WOODLAND — Returning stolen property to its rightful owners in Woodland is about to be as simple as connecting the dots.
On Wednesday, the Woodland Police Department announced it has become the first law-enforcement agency in the Sacramento region to introduce Anti-Theft Dots — a relatively new technology involving microscopic dots, each about the size of a grain of sand and containing unique personal identification numbers (PIN) registered to the property owner.
The agency’s goal is to slash the amount of recovered stolen property that goes unreturned because their owners can’t be identified, and to return those items much more quickly.
U.S. Department of Justice figures indicate as much as 85 percent of recovered stolen property never finds its way home. In Woodland, police took in hundreds of stolen items from a rash of residential burglaries in 2014, and “it took us months to get the property back to everybody. Some of it didn’t even get claimed,” Sgt. Brett Hancock said.
Anti-Theft Dots are suspended in a clear, adhesive substance that’s applied to property both small and large and can’t be removed with liquids or solvents, said Shawn Andreas, law enforcement liaison for the Irvine-based company.
Property owners then use their computers or mobile devices to register the accompanying PIN in the Law Enforcement National Recovery Database, which is accessible to every law-enforcement agency in the country. Photos of the property can be uploaded as well.
Should an item be stolen and later recovered, police — using scanning tools and digital readers that Anti-Theft Dots provides free to law-enforcement agencies — match the PIN on the property to the rightful owner. Theft victims also can file reports via the company’s website or mobile application.
“It’s an additional opportunity to get the message out quickly,” Andreas said.
Law enforcement began using the microdot technology about three years ago in Florida, and it has since been adopted by roughly 1,000 agencies in 17 states, according to Andreas. It replaces the outdated identifying method of engraving a Social Security number onto valuables.
“Since identity theft has become prevalent across the country, that’s not something (law enforcement) recommends anymore,” Andreas said.
The dots are affixed to property with one of several types of available application kits. There are security labels, a spray, a pen-like applicator and a gel substance applied with a wand. Each application contains anywhere from 1,500 to 40,000 microdots.
Kits will be available for purchase at some local retail stores and online at www.antitheftdots.com. The cost ranges from $30 to $35, though the kits can be used on multiple items.
Hancock said the technology may prove useful not only to citizens but to also to the city itself, with various city departments falling victim to thefts of tools, electronics and valuable metal wire in recent years. In some cases, thieves have torn into buildings’ air-conditioning units in search of copper wire to sell at recycling yards.
Police plan to spread the word about the new program through social media and at events such as Neighborhood Watch meetings, Hancock said.
“I think we’re going to notice a downsize in our property crimes,” he said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene