The Mississippi State University Police Department’s Operation ID program gives students the opportunity to register valued belongings in order to track them if the items become lost or stolen.
Georgia Lindley, Chief of Police, said Operation ID helps students document their belongings with the campus police department so the items can be more easily retrieved in the event they go missing and are recovered by the police.
“Operation ID is a program where the police department assists students with writing an inventory of their belongings, including serial numbers,” Lindley said. “The listing is then held in a secure location.”
Jeff Kunz, sophomore geosciences major, said he and his friends participate in Operation ID because they know their information is secure.
“My roommate and several of my other friends registered their property with the police,” Kunz said. “I feel safer giving the police my serial numbers because I know I would lose them.”
Kunz said he had firsthand experience with losing property to theft prompted him to participate in Operation ID.
“Part of the reason I participate in the program is because my truck was broken into a while back,” Kunz said. “The police couldn’t do anything because I didn’t have serial numbers of the stolen property, whereas if I had used a program like Operation ID, I wouldn’t have had to worry.”
Officer Michael Simmons, crime prevention coordinator and program leader, said the program, which has been targeting campus residence halls, allows students to take an extra step in protecting their valuables.
“Students can register anything they value with us, from cell phones to sporting equipment,” Simmons said. “We highly encourage students to register their laptops through the program, as it makes it much easier and faster to identify their owner if they are found.”
The free program gives students an extra layer of protection as well, Simmons said.
“Just because your things are behind locked doors does not always mean that they are 100 percent safe,” Simmons said. “Things can and will happen.”
Simmons said he informed students of Operation ID at meetings in each campus residence hall at the beginning of the semester, and he is in the process of attending registration meetings in each hall.
“We have all but four residence halls done at this point,” Simmons said. “If any student missed the meeting in their hall, though, they can feel free to come to my office and register there.”
Simmons said student involvement in Operation ID has been greater this year than any other in which he has been involved.
“In the roughly six years we have been doing the program, we usually average around 25 students registering per residence hall, but this year it has been about 45,” Simmons said. “We have really been trying to get the word out this year and encourage students to take advantage of Operation ID.”
The property identification list students can fill out includes basic information such as the type of item, the item’s make, model, size, color, serial number, purchase date and price.
Simmons said the purchase date and price are used to determine the severity of the crime in the event an item is stolen and recovered.
“We use the purchase date and price to determine the item’s value after depreciation,” Simmons said. “If an item is stolen, recovered and it is priced at $500 or more, then the crime is considered a felony.”
Items reported stolen that are registered through Operation ID go to the National Crime Information Center, a nationwide database used to track stolen goods, among other things, Simmons said.
 
 

For more information about Operation ID, visit police.msstate.edu.