Police invite public to an auction this Saturday

This Saturday, 11 December, Police will be auctioning a wide selection of recovered stolen and found property at Philip Brothers Auction House on Bearley Road, Snitterfield. The auction will be open for viewing from 9am, with the actual auction starting at 10am when hundreds of lots go under the hammer.

The auctions are held every six months to clear the large quantity of items police accumulate in their stores during the course of their duties. Items are sent for auction from Rugby, Bedworth, Leamington, Kenilworth, Nuneaton, Warwick, Southam, Stratford, Shipston, Wellesbourne, and Alcester.

Glyn Gardner, Property Officer at Stratford and Assistant County Commandant for the Specials has been helping to coordinate the auction from within Warwickshire Police. Glyn said

"Ideally we’d like to reconcile every item back to its original owner, but in practice this isn’t always possible because items are not always marked very well. Therefore every six months or so we have to clear our stores and we do this by auction.

"There's a really good selection of items in the auction. We have good quality mountain bikes, ladies and childrens cycles in a variety of sizes, jewellery, watches, CDs, DVDs and videos.

"The most sought after items are usually electrical goods including planes and drills, vacuums and car radios. But you never quite know what’s going to be for sale and we've also got a Volvo outboard motor in the auction for use on some sort of dinghy.

"If an item is particularly valuable such as an expensive necklace, or unusual, we appeal for the owner to come forward through the media. We’d also do this if it was a specialist item that not everyone would have.

"If someone turns up at the auction and spots an item they have had stolen, the auctioneer would immediately remove it from the sale and we would make enquiries to establish the claim. This did happen once with a cycle we had in the sale.

Once the auctioneer’s fee is deducted, the amount raised is divided and goes back to the individual station that found or recovered the items and is used to support the local operational activities.

Not everything can be auctioned however and we give a lot of things to charities such as Oxfam and the Salvation Army, including good quality clothing and unwanted mobile phones.

We also support Tool Aid which accepts damaged tools, typewriters and knitting machines and restores them to their original state before sending them out to the Third World.

We give damaged cycles to The Inside Out Trust who work with the inmates at Long Lartin prison to restore them. Through this programme, the Trust helps raise both the inmates skills and self-esteem.

Mark your property! As well as deterring would be thieves and burglars from taking items, security marking greatly increases the likelihood of reuniting householders with the stolen property when recovered.

Householders can mark items with their name or postcode and house or flat number. A person living at 7 West Albion Street, Notown NT42 9WA for example would NT42 9WA 7. If you don’t know your postcode, ask at your local post office.

For invisible security marking, householders can use permanent UV Marker Pens that can only be seen by using a UV lamp. They could also use SmartWater, a unique water based solution containing a blend of water based chemicals which leaves a dna type mark on items. Almost anything can be Smartwater marked and in Warwickshire we supply SmartWater through established Watch schemes at preferential rates. More info is also available on www.smartwater.co.uk

Householders can visibly mark their possessions using a permanent marker pen or paint. Engraving or etching is suitable for many hard surfaces and ceramic marking pens have been developed to mark china, glass or any glazed surface. Heavier metal items such as lawn mowers can be marked with a hammer and a set of punches.

Marking things like jewellery or antiques is difficult and could reduce their value. You should get expert advice in these cases.

You can still protect items that can’t be marked by keeping a record of them. Photograph each item against a plain background, paying special attention to any distinguishing marks and include a ruler to give an idea of size.

Keep a list of the items you have marked and where the marks are. It’s a good idea to give a second copy of the list and the photographs to someone you trust for them to look after. Keep your own list safe at all times.

For a copy of Your Practical Guide to Crime Prevention contact the Crime Prevention Officer at your local police station or write to:

Crime Prevention Publicity Home Office Room 155 50 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT

Further information on home security can be found on this website. Click here