Shops help in stolen goods crackdown

SECOND-HAND stores in Hull are helping in a crackdown on criminals selling on stolen goods.

A pilot involving three stores gets underway tomorrow in Hull city centre, with the shops agreeing to check goods against a national database to see if they have been lost or stolen.

If they are details will be passed onto police.

There will be drop-ins outside CEX, Prospect Centre, Cash Converter, King Edward Street and Cash Generator, Brook Street, raising awareness of a website www.immobilise.com.

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People can list their property on the website for free, by name, serial number, make and model, making it easier for police to identify if it is stolen, and for victims to give a thorough description if it goes missing.

Police Sergeant Rob Danby from Riverside Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “A lot of people don’t realise that if you buy a stolen phone, iPad or laptop that you could be charged with handling stolen goods or at the very least have the property taken from you even if you don’t know it’s stolen.

“With this new scheme, shoppers buying at stores bearing our posters can buy with confidence knowing that the goods have been checked by the store to ensure they have not been registered lost or stolen by the police or members of the public.

“Hopefully by working in this way we will send a strong message to those handling stolen goods that they will be identified and brought to justice and consequently help reduce incidents of property being stolen in the first place.

“The public also have a role to play and are encouraged to support the police by registering their property for free onto www.immobilise.com.”

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