By Maria Catanzarite
July 13, 2018
As South Bend Police are responding to dozens of break-ins in the past month, they want the public to know about a free service where they can record a digital copy of their belongings.
“Nobody sits there and expects they’re going to have something stolen, like their house broken into, their car broken into,” listed Capt. Anthony Bontrager. “They don’t expect it, or they would take other precautions.”
Bontrager is pointing people to the ReportIt feature of the website leadsonline.com. There, you can store serial numbers, photos, and a detailed description of electronics, expensive clothing, jewelry, et cetera.
“We’re finding, as a lot of people don’t keep track of their serial numbers or identifiers for their property, and what happens is it makes it very difficult (a) for us to see who is stealing the property and/or (b) actually getting the property back to the people it belongs to,” Bontrager explained.
If a thief tries to re-sell an item that has a serial number at a secondhand store or pawn shop, Bontrager said they will be notified.
“We can put a hold on it and actually get the property back to (the owner),” he said.
Your ReportIt account is private, which prevents police from accessing it at their leisure.
Source: http://www.wndu.com/content/news/Police-urging-people-to-sign-up-for-free-website-to-record-info-on-valuables-488142411.html