My goal is to help good people —

My primary goal in launching MyPropertyID is to help good people reduce the odds of being a victim of burglary, theft and loss by making a small, onetime investment in my product. My second goal is to reduce the workload of law enforcement professionals and to increase the conviction rate of offenders. My third goal is to renew your faith in humanity by giving Good Samaritans a simple way to return lost and stolen valuables that are important to you.

I’m a giver not a taker

It is important to me that readers understand that MyPropertyID is a calling first and a business second. I am a caring person—a giver not a taker. I was in the helping professions prior to to launching my startup. It’s true that I have marketing and publishing experience, but I have also worked with convicted juvenile offenders, and studied criminal justice at the graduate level (I have half a masters).

Neighborhood associations are a wise investment

In one of my graduate classes, my instructor, Roxan Ryan, who is now the Commissioner of the Iowa Dept. of Public Safety, made a passing comment about how financial and moral support of neighborhood associations by law enforcement agencies has some of the best results for lowering crime. In that instant, I was in denial and asked her again during the break if I had heard her correctly. She was serious.

The neighborhood association network

Well, I turned right around and contacted by local neighborhood association and became a board member (SWHNA.com). Des Moines has a very robust network of neighborhood associations, and a very supportive network of police officers assigned to neighborhood support. When Des Moines holds its National Night Out (natw.org) event, it is attended by thousands and thousands of participants throughout the city.

Rediscovering Operation ID

As a board member, burglary and theft are a constant, nagging worry to our residents. In an effort to lower crime, I agreed to review our fading Neighborhood Watch signs. I did a deep dive into the underlying research and noticed that Neighborhood Watch used to be paired with something called Operation Identification. Operation ID is a decades-old strategy endorsed by the FBI where you etch an ID number into valuables, write down the serial numbers and apply warning signs.

Operation ID migrated to the web

At that time, I asked myself an important question: Has anybody ever faithfully migrated the Operation ID strategy to the web? The answer was a resounding no! Because of my printing and criminal justice background, I was able to visualize a way to take the proven Operation ID strategy and turn it into a simple DIY tied to the web. Now, the MyPropertyID iteration of Operation Identification arrives in the mail and takes just minutes to install.

A shared investment

My ultimate goal to help individuals like yourselves reduce crime by making a small, onetime investment in my product. There are no monthly fees or any hidden costs. My other goal is to reduce the workload for police and increase the rate of convictions for prosecutors. My last goal is to renew your faith in society by giving Good Samaritans a simple way to return lost and stolen property.

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