Operation ID by Orval Davis

In the 1960s, Orval Davis was the chief of police in El Monte California. In the aftermath of the Watts riots, El Monte residents and the El Monte P.D. banded together to form the El Monte Police Department Technical Research and Development Commission. Of the many recommendations, the following is specifically about the value of Operation Identification

Technical Research and Development for Police Departments: Operation ID

The following is a transcription of a portion of an article appearing in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin from April 1969, page 15.
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin – April 1969 — LEB

The second project, under the direc­tion of the planning advisory board, is one that we borrowed from many police departments throughout the country. Other police agencies carry it out as a department undertaking and use department personnel in perform­ing all its mechanics. Our project is different in that we use all citizen talent and skill, with the exception of one member of the department who acts as coordinator. This project is called Operation Identification and has as its objective the prevention of theft of personal property of both real and intrinsic value from homes and other locations. Our department, in conjunction with a local insurance association, is encouraging citizens to mark their motor vehicle driver’s license numbers on items of value for ready identification. (In California one driver’s license number is issued to each driver for life.)

An electric etching tool is loaned on a 3-day basis and may be checked out by a driver at any time on presenting a valid driver’s license to a reporting district chairman. The tool will etch metal, glass, ceramic, plastic, or wood surfaces. On returning the implement, the citizen is given two Operation Identification decals which he should affix to a conspicuous place near or on his front and rear doors. These decals are imprinted with a replica of the El Monte Police Department badge, which reads, “We have joined Opera­tion Identification. All items of value on these premises have been marked for ready identification by law en­forcement agencies.”

Through this program we hope not only to involve our citizens in recog­nizing the problems of crime in our community but also substantially to reduce our residential burglary rate. Once the Operation Identification project makes headway, we expect to use the same people that were recruited for this project on other projects of similar nature and, thereby, obtain maximum involvement of the citizens of the community in the protection of their own property.

The city of El Monte is divided into 59 separate reporting districts for de­termining beats based on crime hazard and activity. We have grouped several of these reporting districts into neigh­borhood areas under one reporting district chairman. There are 11 report­ing district chairmen for the 59 districts. Each of the chairmen is as­signed an etching tool and furnished a supply of decals, Operation Identi­fication literature, and control sheets for listing the names of tool borrowers. Each chairman, in turn, recruits some­ one from each reporting district in his area to assist him in the project. The planning advisory board of the tech­nical Research and Development Com­mission deals only with the reporting district chairman, and the department coordinator deals only with the plan­ning advisory board. In this manner, control is maintained by the depart­ment with a minimum amount of time required of the department coordinator.