Anti-theft operation takes to social media

A successful policing operation which helps to track stolen goods has taken to social media to widen the fight against theft.

Op Inheritance was set up in 2012 to reduce the trade in stolen goods and reunite recovered property with its rightful owners.

Now officers are taking the operation to Facebook and Twitter to reach a much larger audience with warnings and information about stolen items in circulation.

They are encouraging people to follow them at www.facebook.com/opinheritance and @opinheritance on Twitter.

Plymouth Police set up Operation Inheritance with Plymouth Against Retail Crime [PARC] to improve links between local policing teams and city traders such as second hand dealers, metal merchants and marine chandlers.

The operation aims to proactively deter criminals attempting to deal in stolen property by quickly alerting traders to identifiable items after a theft has happened.

Businesses are able to report suspicious people and suspected stolen objects to police, enabling items to be located as soon as possible.

So far 57 traders, ranging from market stalls to auction houses and internet traders, are signed up to the operation which runs the tagline: ‘Too hot to handle’.

The operation has seen numerous successes with more than 1,000 alerts sent to businesses in Plymouth and East Cornwall so far, leading to property being returned and offenders being identified.

They include the successful find of a stolen iPad in a second hand shop, leading to a suspect who had been entering rooms in a large multi occupancy premises in the city as a cleaner. Further property was recovered and all was returned to their owners.

Op Inheritance was also used to locate a Salvador Dali bust which had been stolen in the Plymouth area and was flagged to police by a local auctioneer.

A further success came after police were alerted to a stolen bicycle being offered to a second hand store in Plymouth. Further research by the local neighbourhood team led to several other bikes being located and a suspect being identified.

Plymouth Police Community Support Officer Trystan Fentem, from the Op Inheritance team, said: “Operation Inheritance has seen many successes in the last four years but by using social media we aim to reach a far greater audience.

“Posting on Twitter and Facebook enables us to ‘advertise’ stolen property to the public across Devon and Cornwall who can tell us if they have been offered these items for sale or had goods taken from them.

“We are able to post about recovered property to try and trace the rightful owners, warn traders and the public about stolen items that may be coming onto the market, and to locate missing property that may have been used in a crime.

“We hope that through social media people will be encouraged to come forward with information if they have seen or know anything about stolen property.

“By using social media we aim to trace many more items that have been reported as stolen to Devon and Cornwall Police and, in turn, perform prompt and effective investigations leading to positive results.”

If you know the whereabouts of any property posted on the sites please call Devon and Cornwall Police on 101 quoting the relevant crime reference number.