UNT launches nation's first Facebook-based property protection program

The UNT  Police Department and Trace -- the world's leading online database of lost and stolen valuables -- has launched the nation's first student-oriented crime prevention application in Facebook, the hugely popular social networking web site.

The free Trace-Facebook service allows UNT students to register information on Facebook about their property, and then quickly and accurately communicate with friends, fellow students and the campus police if the property is lost or stolen.

 

Cyber lost and found

This UNT Police project will combine the power of Facebook and Trace.com technology to create Facebook's first "Lost and Found,"  a community-policing tool that encourages UNT students and parents to register students' valuables. Students then use Facebook as a tool to keep information about their valuables, and to report them to campus communities if they are lost and to police if they are stolen.

The Trace online database includes all identifiable property reported stolen to the FBI by more than 500 Texas police agencies. Members of the UNT community and all Texans can access the Trace database free of charge, to:

• Research items before purchasing them, to determine whether or not they are stolen.

• Report recently stolen property to law enforcement.

• Register and create an inventory of their valuable property to dramatically increase chances of recovery and have a ready-made inventory record for insurance purposes.

 

Avoiding fenced goods

By searching Trace.com, the public can both report and avoid unknowingly purchasing stolen property, making it more difficult for criminals to move stolen items, and help local law enforcement deter crime. And by creating secure, anonymous online inventories of their belongings, students can proactively protect their property.

 

Campus theft

"The theft or loss of laptops, bicycles, iPods and other property is a huge problem everywhere, but especially on university campuses," says Gretchen M. Bataille, UNT President. "Trace is providing an exciting opportunity for UNT to protect our students' property, and recover property if it is lost or stolen by communicating with students in their natural environment using Facebook."

 

A new way to fight crime

"Trace and Facebook are offering us a new method to fight theft-related crime," says Richard Deter, UNT police chief. "Having a single database of stolen items that all students can access will help us identify and return stolen property. By partnering with Facebook, which so many students already use, students can proactively catalog their personal property, in case it is ever lost or stolen."

"We are honored to partner with UNT," says Ken Bouche, Trace vice president. "There are thousands of property crimes on college campuses every year. The Trace-Facebook application gives UNT students and law enforcement a free and easy- to-use system to help reclaim stolen property and catch criminals. Trace is committed to helping the UNT community protect personal belongings and get them back when they are stolen, and our new Facebook application does just that."