The government and private sector partnership to combat property crime by ?chipping? goods is progressing well, says the Police Scientific Development Branch.
The government and private sector partnership to combat property crime by ‘chipping’ goods is progressing well, says the Police Scientific Development Branch. Brian Coleman, Director, of St Albans-based Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch, says in the chipping of goods initiative interim review: ‘The initiative has received funding of £5.5m from Government to show how property crime can be reduced throughout the supply chain by the effective use of electronic data tag based information management systems. The quality and quantity of investments in the Initiative by major companies speak for themselves.’ Not only does chipping of goods deter theft, and help law enforcers to recover stolen property, it provides an audit trail – identifying who was legitimately handling the goods. Trials include:<br>
Argos with Integrated Product Intelligence (IPI) is developing an electronic tag-based system to track and trace jewellery and other high value products from a central distribution point to retail stores in the UK and Ireland. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is used on transit packs and roll cages.
TRI-MEX International is working with Nokia and DHL to combat mobile phone theft by tracking consignments of phones through the distribution process. RFID tags will go first into pallets and cases and then the phones. The tags will be linked with TRI-MEX satellite tracking systems.
Allied Domecq Spirits and Wines is working with De La Rue Brand Protection, pallet pool operator CHEP International and system integrator APT Smart Solutions.<br>
Brian Coleman adds: ‘Such systems are expected to assist the police in identifying and recovering stolen merchandise, and be a powerful deterrent to would-be thieves, not only by increasing the risk of being caught, but also making it more difficult for them to find purchasers for stolen merchandise. They are also expected to provide evidence admissible in a court of law, which can help to convict those responsible for ‘fencing’ and selling-on stolen merchandise.’ Widespread expansion of chipping will take time even if trials are positive, the review adds. Success will depend upon international standards – for RFID tags, for instance – to ensure inter-operability, the PSDB adds. For details, e-mail [email protected].
