10. Memorandum submitted by FindStolenArt
SECTION 1—INTRODUCTION
FindStolenArt.com Ltd was founded in May 2000
by student—David Todd and operates as a non-profit organisation.
FindStolenArt was developed with the aim of
assisting Police Forces, across the United Kingdom, in the recovery
and return of stolen antiques.
Since the outset the service has remained free
to the police service.
FindStolenArt.com is the first of its kind to
allow the public and related organisations to search a database
for information concerning stolen and recovered antiques.
The database and its layout has been constructed
for ease of use. It has been designed bearing in mind that the
system itself is to be used by police officers and its development
has been shaped over time with input from the police and a variety
of related organizations.
Approximately 27 police forces are currently
actively using the website as an open and interactive database
for stolen and recovered antiques. In particular Devon & Cornwall
and Avon & Somerset police have used our database services
extensively.
All police forces are registered onto the Website
and have the ability to use the system, it is certain that with
the BBC behind the project the number of police officers and the
frequency with which they use the website will increase considerably.
The website is subject to network effects, the
more people that use the website the more useful it becomes to
others and the likelihood that valuables are recovered and returned
also increases significantly.
Various organisations including museum security
councils and the national trust, strongly believe that the service
we provide is long overdue.
This project has been undertaken and developed
non commercially but as a valuable service to the British public
to help contend with the theft of antiques.
Use of the database
1. Designed as an easy to use system for police
officers.
2. The website facilitates greater co-ordination
between due diligence officers.
3. The fact that the database is online, means
that it acts as an efficient means of circulating information
about stolen items.
4. The database facilitates communication and
cross force liaison, by allowing officers to view items that have
been stolen from particular regions over time.
Advantages of an online database
The Website allows officers to make direct entries
into the database using the Internet (www). Presenting an efficient
and effective use of police resources in terms of the amount of
time and money saved through using the system.
— Faster processing of information
— Quicker circulation within minutes
rather than days
— Reducing the need for paperwork
— Direct control of items entered into
the database
— Accessible from multiple locations
— Maintain a database and circulate
information simultaneously
Supporting Policing Requirements
FindStolenArt supports policing requirements,
to the effect that it saves time and manpower. There are various
options open to the police officer taking the report of crime.
The most suitable of the following options can be chosen.
(1) Input the items directly onto the database
via the website.
(2) Pass the details to his crime officer to
upload on his behalf.
(3) Send the item and theft details to FindStolenArt
by post or email if the officer does not have access to a PC.
However this method is not encouraged and is rarely used because
of the increased implementation of IT within the police.
There are also no restrictions on the value
of an antique, for it to be included in the database.
Other Private Databases
There are established offline database for stolen
art however they operate with a number of highly significant number
of failings. These organisations are profit-orientated and highly
commercial. Although they have corporate websites they do not
allow access to their databases via the internet.
— An offline database cannot be viewed
by anyone other than employees of the respective company. This
means that the police, public, related organisation do not have
access to those databases and cannot input items into those databases
themselves. Also they cannot visually see the items but have to
rely on descriptions over the telephone in the reporting or searching
of an item.
— These databases charge the British
public who have been the victims of a crime expensive fees to
log details of the lost items. FindStolenArt.com was created to
respond to such unfair treatment and to provide a more effective
means of circulating and identifying stolen and returnable property.
— Other databases have set limits to
the value of a stolen item that can be displayed on the database
and so items that may be antique but below £200 will not
be circulated. FindStolenArt.com has also responded to that failing.
— Individual police officers are increasingly
reluctant to work with such organisations because of the failings
in the service as are victims of crime because of the high costs
involved. They therefore have to rely on contracts ties with the
insurance industry for business.
SECTION 2—ACCESS
LEVELS AND
PROTECTION
Access levels to members of the public—Browsers
Full access to the records in the database is
available only to authorised users and not members of the public.
Members of the public are only able to browse
and search the database by keyword but do not have authorised
access to the database and can not make any changes to the database.
Access levels to police forces and authorized
personnel—Catalogers
The ability to make entries into the database
is restricted to authorised users only. Police forces have been
allocated a username and password via their assigned due diligence
officers. This level of access enables police forces to manage
their account which includes the ability to enter, edit and remove
items from the database.
Police forces are also able to browse through
the accounts of other police forces to search through items that
have been stolen in a specific region.
Users are given only three attempts to supply
the correct username and password after which time they are automatically
barred from the Account Section of the website. This is a preventative
measure against unauthorised access to the database.
Administrators
Individuals who are to manage the overall system
are able to control all aspects of the database including the
access status of users.
Protection against false reports and claims
Stolen items will only be uploaded onto the
database if the details of the theft have been reported to the
police and a verifiable Crime Reference Number can be supplied.
All entries into the database require a crime
reference number, the date of theft and the contact details of
the officer in charge of the case.
Protection offered to persons reporting stolen
and recovered property
Private personal information regarding the identity
and details of the theft victim are not stored at all on the database.
The police officer in charge of the case is
left to maintain correspondence with the aggrieved person.
SECTION 3—COMPANY
STAFF AND
OPERATIONAL LEVELS
Current Staff
Director of Operations — David Todd, Management
Studies (BA) Hons.
Police Liaison Officer — Stan Smith, Ex
Greater Manchester Police Officer, with 30 years of service.
Financial Backing
Financial backing was provided by private individuals,
who have previously been the victims of art theft. The majority
of the contributions were made by Mr Edward Todd, father of Mr
David Todd.
The development of the Website and the resources
used in getting the system used have been considerable. However
now that the system has been developed it now operates with minimal
operating costs. Police liaison, management of the database and
administration costs takes an average of 4 hours per week.
Recovery rate
To date, approximately 11% of stolen items that
have appeared on the database, have since been recovered. However
we are not always informed of successful recoveries made by the
police.
Return Rate
To date approximately 14% of recovered items
featured on the database have been returned to the rightful owner
by the police.
SECTION 4 —
BASIC FEATURES
Browser Compatibility
FindStolenArt.com supports both Microsoft's
Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers, version 4.0 or higher,
running on all platforms.
Search Facilities
The database has full text searching capabilities
and is searchable by category or by Keyword. To complete a keyword
search the user can enter a word or collection of words into the
text search box
Images
Pictures can be uploaded with each description
and these pictures can be viewed in varying sizes. Clicking on
a thumbnail picture will open a window that displays a larger
picture of the item.
Descriptions
All of the items in the FindStolenArt database
are catalogued using the Object ID international standard for
describing cultural objects. It has been developed through the
collaboration of the museum community, police and customs agencies,
the art trade, insurance industry, and valuers of art and antiques.
The Object ID project was initiated by the J.
Paul Getty Trust in 1993 and the standard was launched in 1997.
It is being promoted by major law enforcement agencies, including
the FBI, Scotland Yard and Interpol; museum, cultural heritage,
art trade and art appraisal organisations; and insurance companies.
Having established the descriptive standard,
the Object ID project now helps to combat art theft by encouraging
use of the standard and by bringing together organisations around
the world that can encourage its implementation.
2 December 2003
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