Police have new tool to fight theft

Every year in Hamilton, roughly 25-hundred homeowners open their doors and discover that thieves have stolen thousands of dollars of their property.

And usually, victims of break-ins never see their stolen property again. But there’s a new, hi-tech way to discourage thieves, and help police find your stolen stuff.

To keep thieves from swiping stuff like your computer, you may want to swipe it first.

Brian Baile is with Trace Pens: “Laptops, TV’s, power tools. Power tools are missing off job sites every day.”

And there’s something new to help you deter theft and recover your stolen property.

Brian Baile: “Traditionally, they’ve been talking about getting an engraver and marking your stuff with engraving. That’s really, really old technology.”

The Trace Pen is easier to use, and far less obvious to thieves.

Chief Stephen Tanner, Halton Regional Police: “People can sometimes engrave their property but of course the thief could see that and remove it or sand it off.”

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has endorsed the Trace Pen for a couple of reasons. One, it helps them to identify stolen property more easily. And two, they don’t have to wrestle with a police database, that sometimes might cause privacy issues.

Chief Tanner: “This is a completely commercial solution to this where it’s the company or the consumer who decides whether they register their property or not.”

Here’s how it works. The pen contains an invisible glue — loaded with special microdots which have been laser-etched, with an ID number, that is unique to each pen. Users then register their property on a database using their own unique number. If something is stolen — the database registers the number for police, pawn shops, and second hand stores. They can then use, a special ultra-violet light — to find the hidden glue, and microdot. A magnification device then reads the number — and matches it to the victim on the database.

Chief Tanner: “And then if your property shows up at a pawn shop or in a police investigation, we have a much better chance of getting it back to you.”