Aladdin’s Cave - Reuniting owners with their stolen property

On Saturday 23 February 2013 Hillingdon police [Metropolitan] in partnership with Hillingdon Council are inviting the public to an event called ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ where stolen items from crimes such as burglary, robbery and general theft, will be available to be reclaimed by their original owners. The event is aimed at reuniting people with stolen property that has been recovered by the police and providing crime prevention advice and support to the public.

Aladdin’s Cave will be held from 10 am to 4pm at Middlesex Suite at the Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge, Middx UB8 1UW

Crime prevention advice and a free security marking service will also be on offer. Members of the public are encouraged to bring along their personal property such as bikes and mobile phones to have them marked.

Free tea, coffee and biscuits will be served throughout the day at the welcome desk.

Read the rest of the information here

It’s good to see the Met Police continuing to hold these events and I expect other police forces around the country hold similar events from time to time.

Not mentioned in the article is the distinct possibility that the police could solve some crimes.  For example:  Let’s say chummy gets arrested in possession of a stolen car.  In the car are several items of property that clearly don’t belong to him.  The police suspect that the property has come from a burglary or maybe several burglaries.  If they can’t identify the property and the thief is keeping tight-lipped about it then the police will find it next to impossible to bring burglary charges against the suspect, because they don’t know who the property belongs to and therefore they don’t have an address or a victim for the burglary.  We must also remember that only about 50% of burglaries are actually reported to the police.    

So, even if you haven’t reported your burglary to the police, please still attend events like this one, because you may not only get reunited with your property, but as a consequence you may also be helping the police solve your crime and bring the thief to justice.

And as we’re on the subject of property, do make a concerted effort to mark some of it by following the advice in this section of The Crime Prevention Website.

You know it makes sense!     

Hillingdon Police link: http://content.met.police.uk/News/Aladdins-Cave--Reuniting-owners-with-their-stolen-property/1400014997518/1257246745756?scope_id=1257246764018

Property Marking Advice: http://thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/security-inside-the-home/484/property-identification--marking-tagging-and-tracking/