Purple sticker feared by burglars

Press, 14 December 1982, Page 35

Purple sticker feared by burglars

Burglary victims who didn't bother to join the Operation Identification scheme will kick themselves when they see the statistics.

Lions Clubs have been running Operation Identification in conjunction with the police for eight years.

More than $100,000,000 worth of valuables have been invisibly marked at 60.000 properties in North Canterbury alone.

The burglary rate at premises carrying the Operation Identification sticker has been a mere .0025 per cent, while unmarked homes are being burgled at the rate of one in 25 a year.

This makes Operation Identification one of the most successful long-term community projects, according to the co-ordinator of the scheme. Mr J. E. Anderson.

Mr Anderson said that owners of marked goods — those with purple stickers on their houses — enjoyed near immunity to the plague of burglaries sweeping the country.

The police estimated last month that the number of burglaries in metropolitan Christchurch this year was likely to soar beyond 10,000.

“Those housebreakers and receivers rash enough to deal in stolen valuables carrying an invisible code have frequently been caught and convicted," said Mr Anderson.

Operation Identification — Christchurch-style - had been copied and was flourishing in the North Island, Australia, and the United Kingdom, with the same excellent results.

Three years after the scheme was started in Britain, there had not been one report of a “member” property being burgled. The purple Operation Iden-

tification stickers have become a common sight on gates and doors of homes and business premises in Christchurch.

For a small fee. someone will come and mark your valuable possessions with an 'invisible ink" pen.

The mark, usually a number. shows up in ultra-violet light. On most surfaces it cannot be seen under normal conditions, and it is very hard for even the most careful thief to get rid of.

Mr Anderson urged pro-perty-owners who had not yet joined the Operation Identification scheme to do so promptly, preferably before the Christmas burglary ■'season."

"If a housebreaker sees slickers on your neighbour's house, he won't break into it. He doesn't want to be caught with code-numbered goods in his possession, so he is likely to divert his attention to you," said Mr Anderson.

Information about the scheme can be got from the Operation Identification office on the first floor of 285 Cashel Street, telephone 67924.