Brookhaven Police Department has begun using a new online service that may help officers recover stolen personal property in the event of a theft. The free service allows residents to catalogue valuable items so that they may be more easily identified.

BPD has teamed up with LeadsOnline, which offers the service called Report It, a citizen property inventory system. Users can log serial numbers, item descriptions, pictures and scans of receipts and the information may be transmitted to the police online in the event of a theft.

Clint Earls with BPD said the service can be especially useful to residents in keeping up with their property and being prepared.

“So say your house is burglarized […], you’re able to log on and transmit a full list of all your property free [of charge] to [law enforcement],” Earls said. “When you bring home a new iPad and you’re taking it out […] it’s real easy to just take a snapshot of it to put on the site, and then you don’t have to think about it.

“Whether you need it for an insurance report or a police report, you’ve got the documentation and everything we need to classify it as stolen property,” he said.

A list of valuables and assets is instrumental in the case of a theft or loss, and can help you assess damage after a destructive event to report to insurance companies. Anything of value is worth cataloguing, including collectibles, jewelry, electronics, machinery, lawn equipment and other things like designer clothes and handbags.

“[The service] helps the department recover stolen property because when you start looking for something and you have an idea where it may be, you don’t have to use the resources to send the personnel […],” Earls said. “I can plug it in to the system and [so it’s] time saving […] when conducting a stolen property investigation.”

Because BPD is registered with the site, reportit.leadsonline.com is free to use for Brookhaven residents.