CopDots - microdot identification for your tools

[Bolster]

Saw CopDots in Lowe's today. Came home to research them before buying. It's microdot technology you (with the help of law enforcement) can use to mark and later identify tools (or whatever). A small glue pen is filled with thousands of microdots. You smear some of this very tenacious glue, mixed with dots, around on your tool, computer, iphone. Then register your ID number with the CopDots database. If a stash of stolen merchandise is found (as it often is), police can search for the dots with UV light (I think? not sure), and read the ID numbers with a hand-held 30x microscope with illuminator. If they find dots, they have the ability to ping the CopDot database for identification. A CopDot pen costs about $30.

What do you think? Please discuss.

http://www.copdots.com/

(Has this already been discussed? Beg forgiveness if so. I searched on "copdots" and found nothing.)

 

[neophyte]

So, does this mean if you buy used tools on a regular basis you should purchase a UV light, and keep a nice selection of various solvents on hand, to inspect, and possibly clean any purchased tools?

In all seriousness, my guess is that something like this may only be a good theft deterrent for maybe ten years or so till criminals realize it and start checking for the dots and removing them. Once this happens you'll only be able to check for them you'll only be able to use them to verify items that have been stolen so recently a criminal hasn't been able to remove them, or on something so complicated there would be no way to thoroughly check for them.

 

[kythri]

Or, conversely, a thief spends $30 on a pen, registers it, then busts into your place, takes your stuff, marks it as his own, and uses the registration as proof of ownership when he goes to hawk it.

Or, you could take your pen to the hawk shop, then report your stolen tools.

Ripe for abuse.

Not a fan of the concept, really, and perhaps I'm too cynical, but I don't trust this company to be around in a few years, rendering any such measures useless. I also don't see many agencies taking advantage of this stuff, again, rendering such measures useless.

 

[Lilsmokey]

I see goof off sales going up.

 

[kythri]

According to their FAQ, acid and abrasion is required to remove.

 

[ADSR]

You think the cops will return your tools? They auction them off and keep the funds.

They want to look like hero's giving out tickets, not returning stolen goods.

 

[Bolster]

You think the cops will return your tools?

Did I give you the impression I'm entirely naive? Reread my post: "police can search" ... "they have the ability to ping"... nowhere did I say they would. But it really is the height of cynicism to believe that police never return stolen tools.

I love kythri's approach: take the pen into the pawn shop and mark everything you want. Then call the police. LOL! Thinking like a true criminal!

For the record, I can't imagine a water-based adhesive that is truly strong enough to attach itself tenaciously to chrome. Seems to me the best way to use this system is to place the dots in an unlikely-to-be examined place, if there is one. I'd be inclined to open up my electrical tools and place dots on the inside of the case (as well as outside).

 

[rockchucker]

Or, you could take your pen to the hawk shop, then report your stolen tools.

LMAO!

I want this one and this one and this one...maybe this one here. lol

Never even thought of that. Pretty damn funny though.

Although I did think this thread was going to be some old 60's story of giving cops microdot.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

This plan only works if the company making the device gives out the scanners free to every single police department in the country, because existing budgets do not include funds to buy more equipment like this from a private company.

It's a nice feel good idea, but no department is going to do spend the money on the scanners.

This was also pushed heavy with marking car parts and etching window glass as a security feature in case your car was stolen. The company that pushed it did good business with it- but police departments didn't have any database to work off from, so in the end it was completely pointless. It's not an outright scam, but it's pretty close to it.

Mark your tools the old fashioned way if you wish.

 

[sloppy]

You think the cops will return your tools? They auction them off and keep the funds.

They want to look like hero's giving out tickets, not returning stolen goods.

They do if they know its yours.. A close friend of mine has gotten tools back on a couple occasions, and a gun. Both times it was pretty cut in dry case. the time with the tools I caught the kids breaking in the shed and followed them home and then just called police from their sidewalk. took several months but they did give the tools back..

 

[Bolster]

I don't own CopDots, and am not advocating them, but I do think we should "think straight" about the issue before praising or damning the idea (damnation being the dominant response so far...).

This plan only works if the company making the device gives out the scanners free to every single police department in the country, because existing budgets do not include funds to buy more equipment like this from a private company. It's a nice feel good idea, but no department is going to do spend the money on the scanners.

Quote from the video, linked above:

"Microdot viewers are available at no cost to police agencies."

I don't trust this company to be around in a few years, rendering any such measures useless.

If the company goes out of business, you still have a readable microdot and your identification number that matches those microdots, and the ability match the two to prove ownership.

 

[dfreeman616]

If police do in fact do their end, it has potential. However, anyone thinking of doing it and putting the dots somewhere a criminal wouldn't look, just be aware the cops likely won't look there, too.

 

[03protege]

If police do in fact do their end, it has potential. However, anyone thinking of doing it and putting the dots somewhere a criminal wouldn't look, just be aware the cops likely won't look there, too.

You would be able to tell the cop where you put the dots..

 

[kythri]

I don't own CopDots, and am not advocating them, but I do think we should "think straight" about the issue before praising or damning the idea (damnation being the dominant response so far...).

Calm discussion consisting of critical questions and statements of disinterest are far from "damnation". I, for one, am thinking straight on the issue, and rather than taking them at their word, I'm looking at the potential drawbacks to the application, to see if they outweigh the potential benefits.

Too many companies offer similar services (protection from theft/fraud/whatever) which, ultimately, have no value and bilk people out of their money. Lifelock and Computrace Lojack are two big examples I can think of right off hand.

I'll freely admit, I'm skeptical about this company as well, and from what I've read, it won't be something I purchase. My earlier concerns are also valid - thieves these days are getting more high-tech, more brazen. This doesn't seem to have any kind of protection from abuse - simply buy a pen, register it, and mark whatever you want to own, then report it stolen.

Quote from the video, linked above:

"Microdot viewers are available at no cost to police agencies."

If the company goes out of business, you still have a readable microdot and your identification number that matches those microdots, and the ability match the two to prove ownership.

If the company is out of business, a law enforcement agency won't be able to acquire a microdot viewer.

If the company is out of business, does a law enforcement agency have the ability to read them with any other equipment? Will they still be able to cross reference whatever they read to you? Is the identifier they read a human-readable code that you can provide the police yourself, or does it require the mentioned database that the company maintains?

 

[DocsMachine]

You would be able to tell the cop where you put the dots..

-In that case, any identifying mark will work. Your initials, a simple logo, etc.

"Mr. Protege, we found a Fluke meter like you said was stolen from you. Can you identify it?"

"Yes, inside the battery cover is a smiley face painted in bright red Testor's model paint."

"Yep, there it is, it must be yours."

Something like the copdot/microdot will only work if either all the local police departments (yours and most surrounding states) actively look for that kind of marking (which means every officer is aware of the system, and has access to and is trained to operate the microscope) or you go to the police department after a theft and give them a detailed and itemized list of every missing tool, where the identifying marks can be found, and have a spare microscope you can lend so they can look... if they can spare the manpower and time.

Sorry, it ain't happening. No police department is going to hire people to just sit around and search every single square inch of every recovered item. Cops pick up a perp, he's got a five-gallon bucket full of combination wrenches. How long do you think it'd take somebody to search each and every one, looking closely and carefully for a little dot of glue?

They recover your 52" plasma TV. Who's going to search the entire case for a 1/8" dot of glue?

And if you tell them where to look... why not just give them the serial number?

This has been tried before- not long ago a company sold "taggants" which were near-dust-sized plastic particles marked with a unique ID number. You could stick them to things with glue, just sprinkle them into crevices (like a laptop keyboard) and so on.

But if nobody looks for them, they do no good whatsoever.

Doc.

 

[warmpancakes]

kidna like lojack, took thieves around here 2 years to render it useless

 

[X1 Mike]

At the motorcycle dealer I worked at we sold a similar product that they would apply at closing after upselling. It cost $800 and even the guys that worked in customer service that swabbed the stuff on and made the commision admitted they felt like they were ****** the buyers. In theory it could work but in my 4 years there not one person ever recovered anything with the dots.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Quote from the video, linked above:

"Microdot viewers are available at no cost to police agencies."

Do they provide the training required to use the devices? Or insurance policies to protect against mistaken ID claims due to database mistakes or scanning errors? There's a lot to be considered here.

I'd feel better knowing major departments were already using this product successfully.

 

[dfreeman616]

You would be able to tell the cop where you put the dots..

That assumes the stolen items are recovered by a police department that you talk directly to or somehow has that info once you put it in a report.

 

[Sureshot]

I have had a toolbox returned. Too many skeptics. All it takes is a 30x magnifier to read them, but I admit any kind of unique ID will work.
For $30 though you have an invisible mark and could easily pay off.