Article from 24hrs Daily Newspaper in Vancouver http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/2007/01/05/3175381-sun.html

Police see it all the time. Someone on the street has a shiny new $2,500 bicycle that the officer knows is stolen but they can't do anything about it because the theft hasn't been reported.

It goes far beyond bicycles, according to David Brierley, founder of PropertyCop.org and a Vancouver police officer by day.

"It's extremely frustrating, but the only database police have access to is for stolen goods," he said. "There is no way to check property and see who the registered owner is."

Coupled with police jurisdictions and budget issues, officers often find themselves with little power over potential property crime.

Brierley decided to go outside the realm of policing to find a practical solution.

After two years of discussions, feedback and development, Property Cop is set to launch and Brierley hopes retailers and police adopt the online program.

"It's a viable strategy to help prevent crime," he said. "Say you go to the store and purchase a bike. Then you log onto the website, create an account and put in photographs, serial numbers and descriptions of the bike into a secure database."

Should the bike ever be stolen and found by the police, an officer can call the Property Crime call-centre and find the owner of the bike.

Brierley says people can enter anything into the database, from bikes to laptops and other electronics.

Several bike shops in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island have already agreed to endorse the program, and Brierley is in discussions with larger store chains as well.

Despite the early support, the hard work is still ahead of Brierley.

"Once we have the final build ready Jan. 11, I'll show it to retailers and police," he said.

The success of the multi-jurisdiction program will hinge on whether police agencies feel Property Cop is secure enough to use.