Construction creates unique third party liability challenges that need to be addressed to protect your
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Helping Law Enforcement Help You
March 2006
If you have ever asked, or even thought, what more your local police department could do to help you prevent equipment theft or recover your stolen equipment then you should first ask yourself another question: "What can I do to help them?"
by David J. Shillingford
National Equipment Register, Inc.
If you think that filling out a theft report after your equipment has been stolen is as much as you can do then read on…
But let's first start with a reality check. Equipment security issues are not the number one policing priority in your area—nor should they be. Law enforcement resources are more stretched than ever as a result of budget cuts, Homeland Security demands, and, more recently, new public safety challenges stemming from the worst ever hurricane season. Because of the relatively few public safety resources that can be committed to equipment security, it is vital that they are used as efficiently and effectively as possible. Sadly, the opposite is normally the case.
There are, however, many things that can be done to help law enforcement to be more effective when dealing with equipment security and theft. In many cases, police do have some time to investigate equipment thefts, but it is limited and without the right knowledge and information the process will be time consuming and unsuccessful—and not happen again. Some of the challenges faced by law enforcement are discussed in a previous Expert Commentary, Heavy Equipment Theft and Solutions.
The best way in which equipment owners can help law enforcement is by providing information. Information is the key to a successful investigation, and it is equipment owners and their insurers who have the information that law enforcement needs. The challenge is to get that information into the hands of law enforcement when they need it.
There are different types of information that will help. Most officers know what it is but not always where to find it. By reaching out to law enforcement and helping to develop resources or simply letting police know what is available the chances are better that they will drive by your worksite over the weekend and stop to look at suspicious equipment.
What Information Is Needed?
There are two different types of information that will help: general information about equipment that will help an officer single out and identify stolen equipment and then there is information about single pieces of equipment such as where to find the identification number and who owns it that will help the officer identify the machine and its owner.
The first type of information is best delivered through training in the form of seminars or publications—both print and electronic. The idea is not to try to turn all officers into equipment experts, but to give them confidence, through a basic level of knowledge of equipment, about what are normal practices in the industry (and therefore what is suspicious) and where to go find more detailed answers.
The second type of information is best delivered through equipment industry specialists who can answer specific questions an officer might have about an individual piece of equipment—ideally at any time of day.
So the best way for you to help local law enforcement is to ensure that such training is provided on a regular basis and to inform officers about the different sources of information that will be able to answer their questions. Standard police training courses in academies and afterward are seldom afforded the time nor have the expertise to teach equipment investigation techniques. But whenever the insurance, construction, or equipment industries provide this training, it is well attended and received, and gives local equipment owners an excellent chance to make contact with local law enforcement with an interest in equipment crime.
There is a third type of information that might be described as "intelligence." For example you might let local police know about any big project in your area with valuable mobile equipment, particularly any that are hard to secure. But before you expect patrols to be routed to help reduce your risk, it is best to have first offered to help.
With this in mind, below are some practical steps that you can take to get the right information into the hands of law enforcement.
Training
You need a few simple elements to create a successful training program for local police:
A facility with a classroom and an area in which equipment can be displayed (a rental store with a big room or warehouse would work);
A lesson plan (see Resources below);
An expert in equipment investigation techniques (see Resources below);
A group of equipment owners who can meet the officers to discuss their concerns and offer help, and of course, a group of officers willing to spend a day learning about equipment.
All of these ingredients can be found in almost any community. You may have to bring in the instructor, but this can easily be done. If you are not lucky enough to have a local construction industry crime prevention program, then your local equipment owner association might be the best resource to help organize this. If you do not have such an organization, this training meeting may well lead to one being established. Future Expert Commentary articles will provide advice and a template for establishing a local equipment crime prevention program.
Equipment Information
Let's start with the basics. If you have a piece of equipment stolen without fully and accurately recording the serial number PRIOR to the theft, then you are not helping yourself or the police. Short of the thief accidentally trying to sell the equipment back to you or driving it past you on his way out of town, you will be out of luck.
A huge advantage for equipment thieves is that, until recently, law enforcement did not have quick, 24-hour access to ownership information for heavy equipment and theft reports often took days or weeks to get into the police computer due to delays in theft discovery. As most stolen equipment is being moved on weekends, and the theft often will not be discovered until Monday (at the earliest), there are only two ways in which this equipment can be identified. The first is if the thief has not yet had time to remove decals from the equipment.
TIP 1: Make sure that there are as many highly visible decals as possible on each machine that clearly show the name of the company that owns the equipment and—better still—include the telephone number so that the officer can call you to check that the equipment is where it should be.
TIP 2: Register your equipment by serial number and any other applied numbers on a national database that law enforcement uses to identify equipment. See the Resources list below for more information.
Funding Equipment Investigations
A very effective way to help police to focus on heavy equipment investigations is to get local equipment owners to club together to create an "equipment investigation fund." This money can then be put toward overtime during which the officers must focus on equipment investigations. It is, of course, vital that this be discussed formally with senior law enforcement in your area first and be executed in the way that they dictate. This liaison can normally be done by the detectives that are active in this area. This may seem extreme, but as long as it is formally organized at the right levels, it can be very effective. In one instance the American Rental Association of Texas raised $25,000 to fund equipment investigations during overtime and this resulted in the recovery of $1.2 million of stolen equipment!
Conclusion
The above ideas should really just be a starting point. The main thing is to reach out to local law enforcement and ask them how you can help them be more effective in combating equipment theft. You can then reach out to those listed in the Resources below to ask how best to deliver whatever is most needed. You will be surprised how effective this can be.
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Beyond Equipment Theft
September 2006
This article describes losses due to criminal activities other than equipment theft such as vandalism, sabotage, unauthorized use, joyriding, and the theft of materials, particularly scrap metal. In each case suggestions are put forward to minimize the risk of loss. Some of the solutions are similar to equipment theft prevention techniques and technologies but most vary in the exact application.
by David J. Shillingford
National Equipment Register, Inc.
The theft of construction equipment is a significant and growing problem and tends to grab the attention of loss control specialists due to the value of the machines that are being stolen and recent efforts to track and analyze the problem. There are, however, similar, and often related, crimes that result in losses that, although less severe, become a significant drain on profits due to their frequency and the greater likelihood that such losses may not be covered by insurance. It is possible that the overall financial loss from these crimes is similar to that of equipment theft (see references below). These are also crimes that are often harder to prosecute and therefore harder to deter.
Theft of Materials
The theft of building materials is not a new problem but one that is a constant problem, particularly for those in the home building business. It is not just building materials that are stolen but also expensive electrical units from houses in the last phase of construction.
A similar crime is the theft of scrap metal such as the theft of a large amount of copper wire from utility company or the theft of a catalytic converter to extract the small amount of semiprecious metal; even large metal sculptures are being more frequently stolen. The recent spike in scrap metal theft is directly related to the high prices that scrap metal is presently commanding.
Both crimes are problematic because it not only costs money to replace the stolen material, but also business interruption costs are likely to be incurred. Furthermore, this is a risk that is sometimes not covered by an insurance policy. For the criminal, the risk is low because, without a serial number, the material is unlikely to be uniquely identifiable and therefore difficult or impossible to identify, prove ownership, and prosecute.
Solutions
Associations are starting to tackle the problem at an industry level. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI), has created a Scrap Theft Alert system. Whenever ISRI learns of a major scrap theft, it sends an e-mail notice to scrap recyclers in the state where the theft occurred as well as in surrounding states. Another association taking an active role in combating scrap metal theft is the Construction Industry Crime Prevention Program of the Pacific Northwest (www.cicpp.com).
Another solution is to make the material uniquely identifiable. One such method is the use of HELPtechDNA. A container of HELPtechDNA contains thousands of miniature chips with a serial number etched onto them. The chips are premixed in a specially designed durable adhesive that contains an ultraviolet trace (UV). Once applied, all HELPtechDNA numbers are registered onto the National Equipment Register (NER) database that is used by police agencies through the country to identify the true owner of materials and equipment. When a law enforcement officer shines a blacklight over an area where HELPtechDNA has been applied, it will fluoresce, alerting the officer to their existence. Once located, the HELPtechDNA number can be read with an x30 powered magnifier, and the owner located on the NER database. HELPtechDNA warning labels and signs let thieves know that the items have a unique identity that cannot easily be removed. (More information is available at www.identificationtechnologies.com.)
One of the best solutions is to keep the thieves out. This can be done through traditional methods, such as gates and fences, but a recent addition to worksite security is DEWALT's SiteLock, a mobile alarm system based on a central control unit that links wirelessly to a variety of locks and sensors which can be placed on materials and equipment on a worksite and that will trigger an alarm if disturbed. (More information is available at www.dewalt.com/us/core/.)
As ever, good project management can have an effect on security. In this case "just in time" deliveries will reduce the amount of material available to thieves.
Vandalism and Sabotage
Sabotage is a form of vandalism but needs to be treated separately because vandalism can be deterred by making your assets a riskier option for a vandal than other potential targets. On the other hand, the target for sabotage has already been chosen and is largely independent of risk. Sabotage may result from events such as a labor dispute, a competitor, or more general political demonstrations, such as protests against deforestation.
Solutions
Vandalism is, however, not entirely random. Whether it is graffiti or physical damage, the likelihood of vandalism is greater in certain areas (high crime, low visibility) and at certain times of day (nights, particularly weekends). If there is a choice as to where equipment is left over a weekend, these factors should be considered. Although random acts of violence are hard to deter, the equipment owner who is mindful of this risk and, with better overall security, is less likely to become a victim.
Combating sabotage depends largely on the exact nature of the threat and the local conditions. The bad news is that you have already been chosen as the target. The good news is that the events that lead up to such an act should provide you with some warning that will allow additional measures to be taken. A remote logging operation might consider corralling equipment and monitoring access roads. An urban work site might notify local law enforcement of a heightened risk. Please note that you should reach out to local law enforcement before you need them. There is much that you can do to help them help you, details of which are provided in a previous Expert Commentary, "Helping Law Enforcement Help You."
Joyriding and Unauthorized Use
Like vandalism, the target of joyriders is likely to be more random than unauthorized use where someone (usually an employee or subcontractor) uses equipment out-of-hours (usually over a weekend) for a different "cash-in-hand" project and returns the equipment before work resumes. The total loss of a machine is unusual, but there can be indirect costs. The potential for incidental damage to other property from joyriders can be significant, as can be the liability if injury results. Unauthorized use can result in a "theft" if an employee is using equipment during the weekend and decides later on that it is too risky to move the equipment back to the worksite.
Solutions
Most theft prevention and recovery mechanisms rely to some extent on the fact that a thief needs to move equipment some distance before selling it. A joyrider does not face the same challenges. The best, if not the only, defense against joyriding is therefore to immobilize the equipment. This may be achieved by securing the ignition system with a device such as Keytroller (www.keytroller.com) or by immobilizing the equipment using special locks designed for equipment such as those supplied by the Equipment Lock Company (www.equipmentlock.com). It should be noted that the blocking of smaller equipment with larger equipment that might help deter the theft of the more easily stolen machine may not be as effective against joyriders as a joyrider may be as happy, if not happier, to "ride" a large machine. Like vandalism, the risk is greatly diminished if measures are taken to render other targets in the area better targets.
Unauthorized use may also be tackled by immobilizing the equipment although an employee/operator may also be the person with the keys or code. Recording hour meters before and after weekends is the easiest way of detecting unauthorized use. Another powerful tool is the use of Global Positioning Systems such as QUALCOMM (www.qualcomm.com) that record the exact location and usage of a machine at any time of the night or day. Rental companies use GPS to monitor machines that go "off-rent" on a Friday but cannot be picked up until Monday morning.
Summary
Losses from vandalism, sabotage, unauthorized use, joyriding, and the theft of building materials and scrap metal are significant. The overall size of the problem is often underestimated because of the difficulty of tracking total losses because many of these losses are never reported to an insurance company. With a little effort, the chances of being a victim can be greatly reduced, with the added plus that many of the techniques and technologies also have a beneficial effect on safety and equipment theft.
References
Builder News: "Margins in Profit, Construction Theft: A Loss Cause," Nov. 2005. (www.buildernewsmag.com/).
"CICP Metal Theft Alerts," (www.cicpp.com).
"Combating Scrap Theft: Scrap Dealers Don't Want It and They're Doing Something about It," June 7, 2006 (www.ISRI.org).
"Construction Site Theft Costs Consumers," May 8, 2003 (www.buildingonline.com/news/viewnews.pl?id=2256).
"Hammered by Theft," The Press-Enterprise, July 20, 2005 (www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2005/07-21/bw_lumber20b_300.jpg).
"San Joaquin County Fights Metal Theft," July 20, 2006 ACTION Program link (www.agcrime.net/ag_crime_news.htm).
USA Today: "Thefts at Building Sites on the Rise," Dec. 28, 2005.
Wall Street Journal: "Metal Is So Precious That Scrap Thieves Now Tap Beer Kegs. Brewmaster Combs Junkyards for Company Property; Stealing 3½ Tons of Steel," March 14, 2006 (online.wsj.com/article_print).
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