Keene Police Officers's Association: Community Support

In the News!
John Stewart, President of the Keene Police Officers Association Named to Governor Lynch’s NH Crime Commission. Gov. John Lynch today issued an Executive Order creating the Governor's New Hampshire Crime Commission to examine ways to strengthen public safety across the state. Learn more.

The Keene Police Officers Association has created a program called the Community Service initiative or "CSI" for short.

Dear Business Owner:

As you may or may not be aware, the Keene Police Officer's Association has created a program called the Community Service initiative or "CSI" for short.

The Community Services Initiative seeks to create a partnership among parents, youth and the community to strengthen and empower individuals, families, and neighborhoods to foster the optimal development of children, youth, and adults. The Community Services Initiative will support the creation and the continuation of programs and services that promote a healthy safe community by fostering the unique potential of all individuals.

Our goal is to provide community service involvement through both traditional and more creative volunteer agencies, and to encourage and facilitate that involvement amongst others. This initiative will create an environment in which we can learn from each other and at the same time provide increased public safety awareness and reduce crime within the City of Keene.

As part of our Community Service Initiative, we have developed a project called, "Operation Identification."

Operation Identification is a program geared towards the businesses in Keene. Operation Identification encourages community business members to mark or identify valuables as a proactive measure against thefts or burglaries. The concept behind Operation Identification is that stolen articles, that are marked, are easily traced and difficult to sell. Permanently marked valuables are more difficult for the burglar to dispose of and many times he/she won't bother stealing these items.

Upon your request, the Keene Police Officer's Association will lend your business an electric engraver — free of charge — to mark their business possessions using a unique identifier, such as their business EIN #, their favorite number, business name, or the last 4 digits of you're driver's license number. Using one of the above means to mark their valuables is beneficial to prove ownership should the article be stolen and recovered by the police (download the following files to get started).

The Keene Police Officer's Association does not encourage the use of your individual Social Security number be used to identify your businesses valuable items. Federal regulations governing the identity of Social Security registrants make the numbers impossible to trace.

If your business happens to own your own engraver or has the ability to mark your valuables in another fashion, the Officer's Association will provide your business with a window sticker upon request - free of charge - as an added line of protection against theft or burglary.

Suggested items for marking: Typewriters, computers, cash registers, safes, power tools, etc. In addition, the Keene Police Officer's Association encourages everyone to photograph or videotape the contents of their business that can't be engraved with the owner's identification. A complete description of the article should be written on the back of the photograph. Once you've engraved your property, be sure to maintain a list of the articles, manufacturer & model, serial number and location number, photographs or video tapes in a safe place.

Please feel free to contact the Keene Police Officer's Association about Operation Identification, to borrow the engraver, or to request the window sticker by calling the Association at (603) 499-CSI1 ( 2741 ) or contacting us by US Mail to P.O. Box 1416 Keene, NH 03431.

If your business has access to the internet you can contact the Association via email at kpoa@earthlink.net or at the Associations web site located at http://www.kpoa.net/contact.html. There is a section on the web site where you can state exactly what you need.

We are currently in the process of uploading the application form for those businesses who wish to borrow the engraver and an article form, to list information about the items that were identified, onto our web site. However those forms are currently not available yet. We can however mail or drop off these forms to your business if you request the forms. The Keene Police Officer's Association does not want or need a copy of the article form. The article form is provided as an additional service.

Upon return of the engraver or in the case of businesses that have other means of identifying their valuables, warning stickers are given out. These warning stickers state, "All valuable items on this premises have been marked for ready identification by law enforcement Officers." Window stickers for businesses are provided as another level of protection. The window sticker will alert people that the business has taken proactive measures to deter theft by participating in the Operation Identification Program.

The borrowing period for the engraver is generally two (2) days.

Please note: Although all members of the Keene Police Officers Association are full time sworn police officers employed by the City of Keene, this is not a Police Department initiative.... Please DO NOT call the Police Department to request the engraver, window stickers, and application or article forms. Calling the Police Department requesting the previously mentioned items will tie up the public safety dispatcher and could hinder their ability to dispatch for emergencies and that is something that we do not wish to have happen.

The engraver, window stickers, application and article forms are only available by contacting the Keene Police Officer's Association directly.