NER Offering More Tools to Stop Equipment Theft
Through summits held in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, a service that searches a used equipment database by serial number, and a new Web site, the company wants to improve coordination of efforts to combat thefts of construction and farm equipment.
The National Equipment Register will continue its series of heavy equipment theft summits next month, joining with law enforcement to educate officers, insurance agents, and construction and farm equipment dealers and owners about this national problem. NER, a division of ISO Crime Analytics, recently launched a new Web site and introduced its IRONcheck® service to the consumer market.
The service, available via a new online portal, allows used-equipment buyers or sellers to pay a fee for a search of the NER database by serial number on any used piece of heavy equipment they are considering buying or selling. NER's new site will improve coordination of efforts to combat equipment theft, the company hopes. Equipment owners, insurers, and law enforcement can continue to use NER's site to report equipment thefts; details are made available to law enforcement agencies through the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
"Since 2001, NER has been collecting and analyzing thousands of thefts each year and has helped NICB and law enforcement recover millions of dollars of stolen equipment annually," said David Shillingford, NER's president. "The Web site allows us to share much of that valuable data with those looking to recover stolen machines and reduce the chances of falling prey to equipment thieves. It wouldn't be possible without the help of insurers and equipment owners. We appreciate their support."
The two April summits will take place April 13 in New Braunfels, Texas, and April 27 in Carol Stream, Ill.