ISLE OF WIGHT
If you’ve ever been the victim of a burglary or robbery, then you know the pain of losing valuable items such as appliances, TVs, jewelry, mobile phones, etc. In years past, the chances have been slim to none of ever recovering such objects. Isle of Wight County’s Sheriff’s Department began to remedy that situation about five years ago when it adopted LeadsOnline.

Lt. Tommy Potter, spokesman for the Sheriff’s office, said it’s a national real-time tracking system used by law enforcement, such as many agencies in the Greater Hampton Roads area.

LeadsOnline is also reportedly used by pawnbrokers to track where they receive jewelry and like, which lets them know if what they got is hot.

The service has enabled law enforcement to recover thousands of dollars in stuff that’s been stolen and pawned, he said.

Also, “LeadsOnline is a free service for homeowners. They can create an account, include photos, serial numbers, descriptions and even scan receipts,” Potter said. “This is a sound, law enforcement-friendly secure company.”

He added that one of the biggest hurdles that police face is burglaries is when the victims don’t have any kind of list or description of what was stolen.

The website to sign up is http://reportit.leadsonline.com.