All you need is a screwdriver to remove a license plate, yet the simple strategy of linking your licence plate number to your vehicle identification number (VIN) on a database, is an extremely powerful law enforcement tool that leads to the recovery of 60% of stolen...
There are only five widely-accepted, well-researched, crime-prevention strategies recognized in the United States. Yes, there are some other strategies that might have some promise, but it’s the Big 5 that still reign supreme. It’s not about crime...
There are three rules of federal government property regulation: custody, custody, custody. If it’s not nailed down, it has to be tracked. If you are doing any kind of work for the Federal government, the Department of Defense or NASA, you must have a robust...
I’m from Des Moines, Iowa USA, and I have a criminal justice and youth advocacy background. I worked at the Iowa Homeless Youth Centers many years ago, and then at the Woodward Academy up until I launched my small business in 2015....
Have you ever noticed that all you need is a screwdriver to remove the license plate from even the most expensive car? There is a very simple reason for this. The vehicle identification number (VIN) is registered in your name, too. Because of this mandatory, global...
Crime prevention is an approach and philosophy distinct from crime deterrence and crime fighting. Crime-prevention strategies take time to implement, but are, dollar for dollar, the most productive use of criminal justice budgets. This post will explore the...
National Night Out is one of the top five crime-prevention strategies in America. Established in 1984, its purpose is to build bridges between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Many police officers work in isolation, and mostly interact with people in...
Playing the odds in crime-prevention is a long game. When the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) was established in 1967, there were many skeptics who questioned the cost-benefit of such an expansive system for capturing seemingly insignificant information like...
On April 30, 2019, a long-time exception to the use of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.245-1 was removed. Now, “acquisition value alone…is not an indicator of the criticality or sensitivity of the property.” In other words, it is no longer an option...
Jailhouse University is where petty criminals go to learn. The reality is that earning convictions in the age of security cameras and alarms systems still isn’t working. Sure, an arrest, but no convictions, so the revolving door of Jailhouse University churns...
A Small Business Liaison Officer (SBLO) usually works for a large government contractor. The SBLO plays the critical role of helping small businesses successfully win subcontracts. There is a problem though. These small subcontractors must comply with the same...
Small government contractors now have a simple way to comply with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) Case 2015-D035 and the requirements of FAR 52.245-1(f)(1)(ii), DFARS 252.245-7001(b) and NFS 1852.245–74(c)(2): marking and tagging government...
On April 30, 2019, the Defense Acquisition Regulations System (DARS), Department of Defense (DoD), posted to the Federal Register a strict interpretation of DFARS 245.107(1)(i) to “require the use of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause 52.245-1,...
National Police Week is an opportunity to say you care. It’s unfortunate that police and deputies don’t always feel supported by their communities, but it’s important for law enforcement professionals to know that the vast majority of us law-abiding...
Words matter and avoiding word confusion in day-to-day communications is very important. Are all the things you own—lawn mower, weed whacker, game system, cell phone, laptop, electric drill, circular saw, bicycle and etc.—property, assets or matériel? Do all three...
It’s always nice to get a letter published in my local newspaper, The Des Moines Register. It’s also always of interest to me to see how the letter is titled and what edits are made. Below is my original letter and then the edited version. Background to my...
It is much, much less expensive—think tax dollars—to prevent a crime than to go to the time and expense of arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating criminals. Being the victim of a crime is also hugely traumatizing and costly—think insurance deductibles and hospital...
In common parlance, assets are often thought of as money; property is often thought of as real estate. But assets and property have another meaning that has to do with all the stuff large institutions, small businesses and homeowners own. Being Published in...
The Scouts of America offer a crime prevention merit badge. The details and workings of Operation Identification has been published for over 40 years in the last two manuals. As you can see by the pictures, Neighborhood Watch and Operation ID are intimately connected....
Most people will assume that “asset managers” means people who oversee a pool of accumulated wealth. But there is a whole other hidden use for the phrase that means the professionals who keep track of the “personal property” that belongs to...
Whenever I do a presentation or make small talk with people about MyPropertyID, it is inevitable that I’ll hear a story about a theft or loss of personal property. In many instances, the owner can point to a piece of property and swear it belongs to them, but...
Imagine if citizens said, “I don’t need smoke detectors. I don’t really care if a part of my house burns down. I’ll just turn it into insurance.” Yet that’s exactly the attitude we have when it comes to burglary and theft. Why do millions of us...
Burglary is a gateway crime committed mostly by teens and young adults. It’s a category of crime like an oil slick—spread thin across the nation. There are millions of property crimes reported each year, but the number is thought to be double that. Sadly, only 10% of...
Very few of us are trained to run toward danger. Law enforcement professionals are trained to do exactly that. The rest of us are taught to run for safety or shelter in place. There are five, non-heroic ways to help police lower crime rates. They are low-cost,...
‘Tis always the season for burglary prevention. Burglaries are by far the most common crime in the United States, and a whopping 90% are never solved. It’s an epidemic with a simple solution called Operation Identification. Operation ID was developed in...
You know the old cliche, What’s good for the goose is good for the gander? Well, in matters of securing property like TVs, game systems, computers and printers, this couldn’t be truer. (FYI, the tags are an important warning, but it’s the stolen items’...
We all do it. We put off the things that we know we need to do. Sometimes there’s a tomorrow and sometimes…well, there isn’t. Sometimes the cost of not doing something is small, like you waiting to get dessert and when you’re ready all of the cake is gone....
Law enforcement professionals are extremely careful about what products and services they endorse. Operation ID is one of the rare exceptions. It was rolled out by the U.S. Department of Justice in 1979 and endorsed by the FBI, police and sheriffs. It was also...
Without a grasp of history, we are unaware of the origin of many of our most routine habits. Some of today’s seemingly normal behaviors were once mightily resisted. The human brain is not particularly well-suiting for thinking analytically. Most people rely on...
Operation ID—developed by the police, but little known by the public—has very humble beginnings, dating back to a time before mainframe computers and modern enterprise asset management systems. It goes back to a time when records were kept on index cards in tiny...
