Police Information

HI-TECH SCHEME TO REDUCE CRIME

Sun, May 20, 2001

Source:

A pioneering electronic tagging system is to spearhead a new crackdown against in stolen goods.

A pioneering electronic tagging system is to spearhead a new Government crackdown against the organised trade in stolen goods from business supply chains.

Home Office Minister Charles Clarke has announced the first two pilot projects under the Government's Chipping of Goods Initiative which will demonstrate the effectiveness of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in tackling property crime.

The innovative hi-tech system allows a small identity silicon chip to be implanted into consumer goods at risk from theft, which reveal the origin and ownership of the product.

The groundbreaking programmes, which will target the illicit trade in stolen mobile phones and sports boats, involve partnerships with TRI-MEX International Limited and HPI Limited.

Welcoming the start of the two pilot projects Mr Clarke said: 

"This is a ground-breaking initiative and I am pleased that the Home Office is working in partnership with TRI-MEX and HPI and the British Marine Industries Federation on developing potential crime reduction tools of the future. 

"Crooks are using more and more sophisticated methods to commit crime. We must harness that technology too if we are to catch the modern criminal. These new electronic tags will act as a powerful deterrent to the would be thief making it less attractive to steal other people's property and making it easier to return to the rightful owner."

Latest research shows: 

·        10% of the cost of high technology consumer electronic goods goes to cover losses in the supply chain (source Chubb);

·        sports boats and leisure craft are being stolen at the rate of 10 to 20 a day. With a typical sports boat costing between £5,000-10,000, that equates to estimated annual losses of over £40m (source BMIF).

TRI-MEX will be working with mobile phone manufacturer Nokia to tag consignments of mobile phones that will be followed through their distribution network via TRI-MEX's satellite tracking system. The new technology will help them to identify quickly if any part of their cargo is missing, allowing police to react quickly to reported thefts. 

HPI is linking up with the British Marine Industries Federation to tag both newly manufactured and second-hand boats. The tag will bear the industry standard unique 10 character Hull Identification Number (HIN), and will be embedded in the boat's structure to make it impossible to destroy. The information carried by the tag will be recorded on HPI's database and will allow both police and potential buyers to identify whether a boat has been stolen.

Guy Mason, Marketing Director at TRI-MEX International, said: 

"TRI-MEX International is delighted to have been selected by the Home Office to develop the use of RFID chips in pursuit of the reduction in crime. The advantages for the UK supply chain and consumers are significant. For every high technology product sold to the consumer, 10% of the cost goes to cover losses through theft; the disruption in manufacturing and transportation are significant, and many of the stolen export products are re-imported into the UK to compete against our own manufacturers."

Martin Brassell, External Affairs Director at HPI Limited, said: 

"HPI already plays a central role in helping the motor industry and the motoring consumer avoid fraud, and has been working with the Home Office to tackle vehicle and leisure sector crime as part of the VCRAT initiative. We look forward to combining our expertise in asset database management and Internet delivery with RFID technology. We are confident this combination will give the boating industry a simple and effective means to reduce and detect marine theft."

 The British Marine Industry Federation's Executive Director, Howard Pridding, said:  

"This innovative electronic tagging scheme for marine craft can only benefit the marine industry's continuing fight against boat theft. It will provide a definitive leisure craft identification scheme at a low cost to all."

The Government is making a further £1m available to the £4.5m already committed to its Chipping of Goods initiative to support future RFID pilot projects in other sectors of industry.

RFID technology can play an important role in combating property crime by:

·        Knowing whether goods have been stolen;

·        Providing proof of ownership of goods to confirm that goods are genuine and not stolen or counterfeit;

·        Providing an audit trail to show where the goods have been and who was involved in handling the goods during their life cycle.

They can be a powerful deterrent to would-be thieves by not only increasing the risk of being caught but also making it more difficult to find buyers for stolen goods.

The electronic tagging systems will also provide evidence admissible in a court of law to help convict those responsible for selling on stolen goods.

The UK is the first country in the world to promote the use of RFID technology to reduce property crime.

The £5.5million 'Chipping of Goods Initiative' will ultimately involve up to eight different pilot projects. These will be announced over the coming months.