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I probably do take it too personally. Retire and move to Italy is the answer!

Thanks.

To answer a few questions: Stolen property will be registered on the local forces system which is searchable. Some forces do use the same systems- Surrey Sussex and Hampshire do which is great Having sites like this is good. There is also another public national web site called http://www.immobilise.com where anything with a serial number can be added. You can even add photos. The police and places like cash converters then use a linked site that only they can use. I try and promote this where ever I can. The busted door- yes they should have probably come out and looked for prints inside the vehicle. However it depends on surfaces. Unfortunately it's not like CSI on the TV though. I wish it was. CCTV is generally useless especially at night but if it's there I will view it because there is always a chance. When you refer to "hobby bobbies"- a little unkind. If you mean PCSOs that is what I do. I don't want to be a police officer. It isn't a "hobby!!" With the gear that was recovered last year I instigated the warrant due to the knowledge and the criminals I had in the area I cover, i logged all the property, I did the work in trying to locate the serial numbers of the property, I sat for hours searching all the systems trying to find the owners, i contacted the manufacturers/retailers, I called people who had reported a crime and had property stolen and all they could tell me was "it was an orange chain saw", I contacted the moderators on here to get the spreadsheets of recovered items added as a post, I put it out on social media and had 84,000 see it with everyone from Brighton to Bolton saying I think you have got my chain saw and trying to reply to the 100s of messages coming in. The only bit I didn't do was arrest him. Yes it's my job and I wanted this thief charged with as many thefts as possible Yes the law is an ass and it is very frustrating but there are lots of us out there that work our socks off with what we have. It's not ideal. I often throw my toys out the pram on a daily basis due to the frustrations! I will be leaving this forum. It's bad enough getting a grilling at work but in your own time.. and I don't even own a chainsaw!! If we recover anymore property however I will get the moderators to put a post up.

You are right. Unfortunately it is down to numbers of officers. If there are no obvious lines of enquiry... CCTV, possible surfaces for prints. I don't agree but there are only so many hours in the day and crimes need to be prioritised . Police are investigating all sorts of crime that they weren't investigating 20 years ago. It's very frustrating and that's why lots of officers are leaving because they feel they can't give a good service anymore. Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

I work for the police and heard about this site through someone who had gear stolen. We recovered about 70 items from 2 warrants on 1st September. None of it was registered on here or http://www.immobilise.com which is a national property registration site. We managed to charge a male and his mum for 11 handling charges and returned those 11 items to their owners with some hard work going through manufacturers and retailers so please don't say all police are rubbish. A colleague and i spent weeks taking chainsaws apart looking for serial numbers, looking for smart water and UV marks. We do recover property but trying to find owners is difficult if it isn't registered or marked. Most police forces all use different crime systems which makes it more difficult. Generally if a crime is reported if there are no lines of enquiry there isn't much that can be done. Trust me I want these people locked up and the key thrown away as much as the next person. I'll post on here when the thief and his mum have been to court and let you know what happened PS to the poster about speeding tickets.... we don't like doing them and generally are only in an area where people have complained. Damned if you do, damned if you don't! Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

And a lot of people don't keep their invoices either Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Unfortunately the majority of people don't write down any serial numbers. I know someone who has had 6 lots of tools stolen from their van. They have no idea what make/model or serial number even for the 6th lot!! Then when property is recovered by police some of these products have got numbers written all over them and if you don't know what you are looking for, you could be taking a product number rather than a serial number. If a serial number is just on a sticky label which has been removed that makes it even harder. It would be great if all the big manufacturers - Garden equipment, power tools, etc had SN before the number. Otherwise you see a number and think that's got to be it! That the number is on a sticky label and engraved on a plate and that each manufacturer had an info email address (that gets answered and not ignored) that you could contact with said serial number where they could tell you which retailer it was sold to and the retailer to have the products on sale has to take the customers details. Even better the retailer has fed back the details to the manufacturer. Obviously that wouldn't help with second hand sales but it would be a start. Stihl and Husqvarna are good at this but the power tool companies have been useless. There is a public website called http://www.immobilise.com where people can register their property. Anything with a serial number- push bikes, mobiles, garden equipment- can go on there. You can also add photos. Police use a linked site. In theory all police forces should use it when they recover property. But it goes back to putting the right serial number down and not a part number. Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Been on the phone to Echo distributor today. Apparently Echo Japan serial numbers aren't unique and they use them more than once... helpful!! They didn't have this one listed It was more than likely stolen in the Tandridge area of Surrey or the Edenbridge area of Kent Sent from my iPhone using Arbtalk

Thanks Steve for the post. We think most of the property has been stolen from the Tandridge area of Surrey, although we have just located an owner for one of the Husqvarna chainsaws in Kent. We have now contacted both Stihl and Husqvarna to get serial number records and to which shop they were sold to. This has allowed us to match a few of the items. Please do register your property, it makes it much easier to get it back 17 out of 70 items have been identified. It's been hard.. but I like a challenge. Vicky