What is the Official stolen lost web site?

What is the Official Stolen lost web site?

The following is an interview with Tony Skerritt, owner and developer of the Official stolen lost web site. The interview has been edited somewhat to remove the general chit chat and keep it to a manageable length.

Hello Tony, Thanks for spending a few minutes with us. Give me a brief overview of your background and how this site came about. What are the factors that inspired you to do this.

Over the years we have worked in many areas of security. The company founders have done red carpet security for celebrity events like movie premiers, large concerts, general event security, personal celebrity security. We also installed security systems and have worked with the legal profession doing investigations with private investigators. We have a broad range of experience in the area. The web site at http://www.officialstolenlost.com (osldb.com) is an offshoot of this.

The countries crime stats are appalling at best even if they are falling in some areas. The government has no effective program for rehabilitating criminals so the great majority do their time and go back out and re-offend. The brunt of all this is borne by Joe citizen who has to pay the costs of replacement if things are stolen of insurance so he can recover his costs from someone else. However it works he has to pay.

The web site is there to provide a tool for Joe to post his stolen or lost property and just as important it is there for a person buying used items like off e-bay or out of the penny saver. They can now go and check if the item is listed and there is the chance that the item will be listed if it is stolen or lost. The finder and the victim can get together privately and the item can be returned. The site is still new so we a working very hard to get the word out so it gets into use.

2. So, a person has an item stolen, they have the photos and a good description of it, they sign up and put all the data on your web site and then what? What are the chances really that someone will find it?

I really can’t answer that. As the site gets promoted more and more and it gets in general use then I see the chances rising considerably. Right now the chances are about zero if just left with the police. So if it goes up to 5% then at least you have some chance.

3. Someone who is buying, say a used car, checks the site to see if it is listed and finds it there. What should they do and how would they do it?

This is important. The first thing you need to realize is that you may be dealing directly with a thief trying to sell your TV. You may be dealing with someone who bought the item from a thief and really has no idea that it is stolen. If an item comes up as stolen then call the police and report it. Fill out the pop-up screen on the web site which comes up as soon as there is a match. Put all the data you can in this and then hit send. This will notify the owner that their items have been located and they can then take over and work with the police to recover the them.

I must emphasize that you do not approach the seller and tell him it is stolen or that he is breaking the law or what ever. Take a simple approach like, I would like to talk to my spouse about this before I buy it or let me think it over and quietly get away and call the police and let them handle it. Getting or remembering the persons name would help the police a lot but a good description will do if you do not have the name. Be safe here.

4.You have a very interesting and useful web site. What can I tell others about it?

The purpose of the site is to give the victims of theft and lost property a place where they can do something about their own unfortunate situation. Anyone feels very helpless and violated when they have been victims of theft, particularly when they have had their home broken into and robbed. I have been there and know the feeling. It is not a pleasant experience. This site gives the person a tool they can use on their own; it helps them get to be a little more causative over the situation. They can now be more cause rather than just be stuck in the effect of the theft or loss. Anything one can do eases the pain. Just sitting in the middle of the loss just hurts.

5. Who is able to use the site and how do they go about it?

The site is available to anyone who wants to use it. It is very simple and does not require any more than very basic computer skills. If you can type and search you can use it. The cool thing about it is that you can also put photographs of the item on the site. This makes it much easier for a person finding the item to be able to identify it.

This brings up an important point. You should have photographs of all your valuable items from your car to your earrings, TV, tools, removable kitchen equipment etc. You should have the make, model, type, serial numbers, color and unique markings recorded for all your valuables. If you get your jewelry stolen for example, giving the police a description of small diamond ear rings in a simple gold setting about 1 ½ inches long is going to be of very limited value to them should they find a set of stolen ear rings. A full description and a photograph will remove all doubt as to who the owner is should they be found.

Actually on the web site anyone can down load a free how to report on photographing their valuables. It is very simple and tells them how they can get a photograph that will be useful rather than just a snapshot that is taken from to far away or done in poor light.

6. As you know a lot of stolen things like cars, artwork etc, get sent out of the country. How can your site help these people?

The first thing you need to do is file the police report immediately. As you know the police are severely over worked and hunting for your lost jewelry is probably not going to be high on their to-do list when they come to work. I am not being critical of the police at all. They do an amazing job but they are only human and they’re severely overworked just keeping up with the day to day flaps.

The report is the official record of the theft and contains all the relevant information should the items show up at a later date. Go to the Official Stolen Lost site and enter all the data and photographs so there is also a complete description there. Now you have it on the web for all to see, not just the police. You have done far more to get it back than the police will actively do. After all where would the police even start looking for your jewelry? People are buying used jewelry all the time so anyone about to buy some should check the site to see if their purchase is stolen.

The more people use this site the more valuable it will become as the chances of the thief getting caught have just skyrocketed. Now it is not just the police who have all the info on the stolen goods they are trying to sell, it will get to be every buyer of second hand goods. It is like a huge neighborhood watch, everybody is checking to see if the goods are stolen before they buy them.

7. What happens if a search brings up stolen goods, say in Canada or Mexico? How will the owner know about this and what can he do about it to get his property back?

If your listed item comes up in a search anywhere the finder will get an automatic popup form to fill out with the basic details of when, where, who, date etc and this will be sent automatically to you. Once you get this notify your local police and they will advise you on how to handle it. If you know where the item is then you can contact the local police there and get their help.

8.So what chance do you think a person really has of getting his stolen property back, even if it is on your site? Why not just leave it to the police to find it for them?

The chances of getting stolen property back are slim at best. As I said earlier the police are overloaded and thefts generally are low on the list compared to the other things that come across their desk on an hourly basis. This site gives the victim a tool to use themselves. He more that people use this site and it becomes an automatic tool for theft and loss victims the better it will be and the chances of getting your items back will rise dramatically, though it will never be a certain recovery.

9. How long does a person’s data stay available to the public? Can they take it off if the item is found or can they add other data should they recall some details later on?

The data will stay on the site for 3 years. If they want to extend it will be possible. They can edit the data as they want and even take the data off themselves. They have complete control over their data on the site.

10.What else does the site do? Is it just data storage or does it have other features and benefits?

One other cool thing on the site, apart from a bunch of free reports, is membership site where a person can list all their valuables with all the serial numbers, descriptions, photos etc. It would be a complete inventory of all their valuable possessions. Though this part of the site is very secure and password protected from prying eyes, the data would be available should anything matching show up in a search. The police and insurance companies tell people to keep an inventory of their valuables and keep it in a safe place so they have the record should something get stolen. This makes it very easy. No trips to the bank vault or family to retrieve your list and it is already on the site should something be stolen, you will not have to go and re-enter all the data. As you buy new things you can just enter the data and it is recorded and secure, takes 2 minutes for peace of mind.

11. What do the police think of this web site and do they use it?

The site is still fairly new but the conversations I have had with law enforcement have all be very positive on this. They like the idea of a place where people can do something for themselves to help find their stuff. We plan to formally approach the police with this in the very near future. A similar overseas site is a regular tool that the police routinely use to check any property they find. It needs to be used to be useful and we are very heavy into the promotion of the site right now to get it to the for front of peoples minds. It needs to be the go-to place for stolen and lost property. Once that happens then it will have achieved it’s goals.