Marking Tools From Thieves and Others

[Norcal]

Do not use your Social Security Number, no access to it, use your drivers license number & also what State, I use CA D.L. # ********, going to be a bit harder if there is no idea what State the number is from.


To the poster who suggested cutting the hand off of thieves, I too was a advocate of "Islamic Justice" but then you would have to feed them, not to mention un-constitutional, the caning rack as practiced in Singapore is much better, and cheaper then prison.

 

[Garage Josh]

I paint all my tools green on my work truck. Yeah it wears off but every other month I repaint them. Is it going to stop a thief? No. Is it going to make it easy for me to see if a coworker has it? Yes. Unless they paint it before I see them.

If someone is going to steal it, it doesn't matter how it's marked.

Yeah I was preferring a way that will hold up better and not have to keep repeating the process. I want to do it for the same reason, quick identification between honest co-workers.

I agree SSN is a bad idea, but what if you ever move to another state won't that make the then old driver's license # useless at that point?

 

[Garage Josh]

Do not use your Social Security Number, no access to it, use your drivers license number & also what State, I use CA D.L. # ********, going to be a bit harder if there is no idea what State the number is from.


To the poster who suggested cutting the hand off of thieves, I too was a advocate of "Islamic Justice" but then you would have to feed them, not to mention un-constitutional, the caning rack as practiced in Singapore is much better, and cheaper then prison.

What if you move to a different state? Is there another identification letters or numbers that is better to use that police can easily trace the owner by? SSN I agree is a bad idea.

 

[5.0 clunker]

I engrave mine and paint them red(dot or strip)

 

[Hornman]

What if you move to a different state? Is there another identification letters or numbers that is better to use that police can easily trace the owner by? SSN I agree is a bad idea.

I don't know about other states, but a Texas driver's license number is personal, they do not reuse driver's license numbers. If the tools end up in another state, the LEO's can call Texas and get the name associated with that DL#, then use the usual methods to locate current address.

 

[Pardigital]

Law Enforcement uses the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) to enter serial numbers of items that have been reported stolen into a national database. In the NCIC database/entry form is a field labeled OAN. This stands for Owner Applied Number. It is essentially a field that allows the entry of a personalized serial number. In other words, the owner of the item can make up a unique number and apply it to their property. If stolen, this unique number can be used by law enforcement for entry into NCIC. Once entered, any other law enforcement officer that queries that number in NCIC will get a hit that it has been reported stolen.

As an example, let's say my name is John Q. Smith and my DOB is 05-12-1965. I could create a unique "serial number" and apply it to a wrench (engraved, etc.). I may choose something like JQS 051265. If I had additional items to mark, I could add a letter to the end of the number- JQS 051265A. Make sense?

If you choose this method, it's important to keep a log of the marked items with descriptions. Photos are a good idea, too. It's a chore, but this will greatly increase the odds of your items being returned to you if they are located by the police.