Register your treasures and beat the thieves, say police

Online database Immobilise.com helps trace stolen items, and its direct link with force computers means it can catch the criminals too.

At a time when resources are becoming ever more stretched, officers are focusing on crime prevention.

So there are also a range of stickers to place on belongings to deter thieves to begin with.

Chf Supt Bill Hotchkiss said: “Part of policing involves stopping crime happening in the first place.

“The public can play a huge part in this by protecting their property with Immobilise, making items easier to identify and less attractive to thieves.

“We want to send a clear message to those potential thieves that anything logged on Immobilise is too hot to handle.

“By registering your property, and marking it as such, you are much less likely to become a victim of crime.”

South Yorkshire Police can check any recovered property. If a drunk and disorderly suspect has your mobile phone in their pocket, they can also be done for theft.

Visit www.immobilise.com to get started and pick up sticker packs from your nearest police station or from South Yorkshire branches of Curries, Dixons and PC World.