Helping Law Enforcement Help You
March 2006
If you have ever asked, or even thought, what
more your local police department could do to help you prevent equipment theft
or recover your stolen equipment then you should first ask yourself another
question: "What can I do to help them?"
by
David J. Shillingford
National Equipment
Register, Inc.
If you think that filling out a theft report after your equipment has been
stolen is as much as you can do then read on…
But let's first start with a reality check. Equipment security issues are
not the number one policing priority in your area—nor should they be. Law enforcement
resources are more stretched than ever as a result of budget cuts, Homeland
Security demands, and, more recently, new public safety challenges stemming
from the worst ever hurricane season. Because of the relatively few public safety
resources that can be committed to equipment security, it is vital that they
are used as efficiently and effectively as possible. Sadly, the opposite is
normally the case.
There are, however, many things that can be done to help law enforcement
to be more effective when dealing with equipment security and theft. In many
cases, police do have some time to investigate equipment thefts, but it is limited
and without the right knowledge and information the process will be time consuming
and unsuccessful—and not happen again. Some of the challenges faced by law enforcement
are discussed in a previous Expert Commentary,
Heavy Equipment Theft and Solutions.
The best way in which equipment owners can help law enforcement is by providing
information. Information is the key to a
successful investigation, and it is equipment owners and their insurers who
have the information that law enforcement needs. The challenge is to get that
information into the hands of law enforcement when they need it.
There are different types of information that will help. Most officers know
what it is but not always where to find it. By reaching out to law enforcement
and helping to develop resources or simply letting police know what is available
the chances are better that they will drive by your worksite over the weekend
and stop to look at suspicious equipment.
What Information Is Needed?
There are two different types of information that will help: general information
about equipment that will help an officer single
out and identify stolen equipment and then there is information about
single pieces of equipment such as where to find the identification number and
who owns it that will help the officer identify
the machine and its owner.
The first type of information is best delivered through training in the form
of seminars or publications—both print and electronic. The idea is not to try
to turn all officers into equipment experts, but to give them confidence, through
a basic level of knowledge of equipment, about what are normal practices in
the industry (and therefore what is suspicious) and where to go find more detailed
answers.
The second type of information is best delivered through equipment industry
specialists who can answer specific questions an officer might have about an
individual piece of equipment—ideally at any time of day.
So the best way for you to help local law enforcement is to ensure that such
training is provided on a regular basis and to inform officers about the different
sources of information that will be able to answer their questions. Standard
police training courses in academies and afterward are seldom afforded the time
nor have the expertise to teach equipment investigation techniques. But whenever
the insurance, construction, or equipment industries provide this training,
it is well attended and received, and gives local equipment owners an excellent
chance to make contact with local law enforcement with an interest in equipment
crime.
There is a third type of information that might be described as "intelligence."
For example you might let local police know about any big project in your area
with valuable mobile equipment, particularly any that are hard to secure. But
before you expect patrols to be routed to help reduce your risk, it is best
to have first offered to help.
With this in mind, below are some practical steps that you can take to get
the right information into the hands of law enforcement.
Training
You need a few simple elements to create a successful training program for
local police:
- A facility with a classroom and an area in which equipment can be displayed
(a rental store with a big room or warehouse would work);
- A lesson plan (see Resources below);
- An expert in equipment investigation techniques (see Resources below);
- A group of equipment owners who can meet the officers to discuss their
concerns and offer help, and of course, a group of officers willing to spend
a day learning about equipment.
All of these ingredients can be found in almost any community. You may have
to bring in the instructor, but this can easily be done. If you are not lucky
enough to have a local construction industry crime prevention program, then
your local equipment owner association might be the best resource to help organize
this. If you do not have such an organization, this training meeting may well
lead to one being established. Future Expert Commentary articles will provide
advice and a template for establishing a local equipment crime prevention program.
Equipment Information
Let's start with the basics. If you have a piece of equipment stolen without
fully and accurately recording the serial number PRIOR to the theft, then you
are not helping yourself or the police. Short of the thief accidentally trying
to sell the equipment back to you or driving it past you on his way out of town,
you will be out of luck.
A huge advantage for equipment thieves is that, until recently, law enforcement
did not have quick, 24-hour access to ownership information for heavy equipment
and theft reports often took days or weeks to get into the police computer due
to delays in theft discovery. As most stolen equipment is being moved on weekends,
and the theft often will not be discovered until Monday (at the earliest), there
are only two ways in which this equipment can be identified. The first is if
the thief has not yet had time to remove decals from the equipment.
TIP 1: Make sure that there are as many
highly visible decals as possible on each machine that clearly show the name
of the company that owns the equipment and—better still—include the telephone
number so that the officer can call you to check that the equipment is where
it should be.
TIP 2: Register your equipment by serial
number and any other applied numbers on a national database that law enforcement
uses to identify equipment. See the Resources list below for more information.
Funding Equipment Investigations
A very effective way to help police to focus on heavy equipment investigations
is to get local equipment owners to club together to create an "equipment investigation
fund." This money can then be put toward overtime during which the officers
must focus on equipment investigations. It is, of course, vital that this be
discussed formally with senior law enforcement in your area first and be executed
in the way that they dictate. This liaison can normally be done by the detectives
that are active in this area. This may seem extreme, but as long as it is formally
organized at the right levels, it can be very effective. In one instance the
American Rental Association of Texas raised $25,000 to fund equipment investigations
during overtime and this resulted in the recovery of $1.2 million of stolen
equipment!
Conclusion
The above ideas should really just be a starting point. The main thing is
to reach out to local law enforcement and ask them how you can help them be
more effective in combating equipment theft. You can then reach out to those
listed in the Resources below to ask how best to deliver whatever is most needed.
You will be surprised how effective this can be.
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These nonprofit organizations bring together law enforcement and
equipment owners to share information that will help each other better
combat equipment theft. Even if they are not currently in your area,
these programs may provide some ideas for developing a similar local
program.
Crime
Prevention Program of the Pacific Northwest
Construction Industry Crime Prevention Program of California
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National
Equipment Register
Funded primarily by the insurance industry, NER manages a national
database that records equipment theft data and allows equipment owners
to register their equipment to make it available to law enforcement
24 hours a day. NER also provides instructors, lesson plans, and publications
to support police training free-of-charge.
NER has partnered with FBI/LEEDA to develop regional equipment theft
summits around the country to bring together equipment owners, insurers,
and law enforcement. Summit details are posted
here.
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All of these associations are helping their members combat theft
in different ways that include local seminars, general advice, and,
in some cases, inviting law enforcement to their annual expo for hands-on
training. Your local chapter may be able to help you arrange training
and liaison with local law enforcement.
American
Rental Association
Associated General Contractors
National Utility Contractors Associations
American
Road and Transport Builders Association
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Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are
not necessarily held by the author’s employer or IRMI. This article does not purport
to provide legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinion. If such advice
is needed, consult with your attorney, accountant, or other qualified adviser.