Continuing with Crime Prevention Month, the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office wants to give resident’s tips on properly marking their property.

No one wants to have their property stolen. Taking a few easy steps to mark your property can help increase the recovery of stolen items. What makes it so effective is that easily identified property is hard for a burglar to dispose of, and they may decide not to take it. If the burglar is caught with it in his possession, it can be traced back to you and can be used as solid evidence of possession of stolen goods.

Property identification is very simple and takes only a few minutes of your time:

1.) First, mark all of your easily stolen valuables so that they can be identified as yours. Many items already have a serial or other unique number imprinted on them. For items without a number you can engrave your own mark on them.

2.) Next, create a list of valuables with descriptions, serial numbers, marks, and approximate values. You can also take photos of the items to store with the list.

Mark and record these types of possessions:

∫ TV sets, stereo equipment, radios, car audio

∫ Computers, cameras, cell phones, tablets

∫ Fishing rods and reels, outboard motors

∫ Firearms and bows

∫ Power and hand tools

∫ Lawn mowers, snow blowers, bicycles

∫ Golf clubs and other sporting equipment