December 19, 2017 - As we are making our list and checking it twice, start a new tradition this year and start or update an inventory of your personal property. Christmas time brings lots of shopping and an increase in burglaries and thefts.
In 2015, Chief Deputy D.J. Dickerson introduced ReportIt which is a free online tool available to Shelby County citizens. ReportIt is a Citizen Property Inventory System powered by LeadsOnline (reportit.leadsonline.com) and is an invaluable tool to the general public and law enforcement. Knowing what you own is the difference between recovering and not recovering stolen property.
Dickerson explained law enforcement uses LeadsOnline to help them do their job; however, often times in burglary cases the difference in the outcome depends greatly on the information provided by the homeowner. He then introduced ReportIt, "One of the things that is really important with this LeadsOnline is a tool that is free to the community. And we would love for the community to use this tool because basically it's helping us help them by using it and its called Report It."
"[ReportIt] is a free service and it's for them to keep a secure online record of their valuable property and you can access it anywhere."
According to LeadsOnline, it is the nation's largest online investigative system used by more than 3,300 law enforcement agencies to recover stolen property and solve crimes. Each year, LeadsOnline is credited with recovering millions of dollars in stolen goods and solving thousands of crimes that are often associated with bigger crimes, such as homicide, identity theft, and arson.
Dickerson reiterated the importance of having a good inventory list of your personal property explaining, "What we do with it is, we recover and have recovered thousands upon thousands of dollars of stolen property through this system." He recounted past incidents when unfortunately home owners didn't have an inventory or had one and were unable to locate it. Also, inventories are often times general and non descriptive. It is important to provide as much information about items as possible including makes and models, serial numbers, detailed physical description, and photographs of the items.
The ReportIt system is secure and only accessible by the person who sets up the account. Law enforcement agencies do not have access to your account, only you do. If you have items stolen, you can log into your account select the items which were stolen and then generate a report to give to law enforcement. The system is also valuable in the event of any kind of loss which has to be filed with an insurance company such as fire.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Department encourages all residents to use this free online system that will help keep track of valuable and invaluable personal property.
As you buy it; inventory it!
