Tool owners encouraged to protectively mark their property

We’re encouraging members of the public who own power tools to consider having these protectively marked.

The Country Watch team have been investigating a burglary which took place in the Rural Winchester area of the county over the course of the weekend (Saturday 21 – Sunday 22 October).

A number of Stihl power tools (pictured) were stolen. These items were uniquely marked and have since been located through police enquiries over the border in Berkshire and returned to their owner.

There are a number of ways to protectively mark your property, and doing so will improve the chances of these being returned to you in the event that they are stolen or are lost.

Ways to do this include keeping a record of the serial numbers and registering the items with Immobilise. Visit the Immobilise website for more details: https://www.immobilise.com/

You could also consider putting your own distinctive mark on your property, such as writing your post code in permanent marker on your items so that they are uniquely identifiable to you.

Items can also be marked with a Dot Peen machine. The Dot Peen machine works by permanently engraving a unique code into your property, then asking you to register it with Immobilise to allow you to keep track of your serial numbers and flag your property in the event that it is stolen. 

Police teams regularly offer the public use of our Dot Peen machines for free at local events. Teams also hand out a forensic liquid called Smart Water for the same purpose.

Please keep an eye out on your local police social media pages for any community events where police will be offering these services.