Operation ID

The Winston Salem Police Department needs your help in helping us catch criminals. Operation ID allows you as citizens to record and keep a listing of valuable items that you keep in your home. These items include electronic equipment, lawn equipment, jewelry, etc. Our template allows you to record and categorize different criteria such as make, model, color, style, and most importantly serial number/owner applied number. An Owner Applied Number (OAN) is a number that you choose to specifically identify that piece of property as belonging to you. NEVER use your social security number as an OAN.  

Each time property is taken in a crime, a description of the property is entered into the WSPD Records Division via an Incident Report. If there is a serial number/OAN that number along with the property description is entered into a national database that is used by law enforcement agencies across the United States.  

If a law enforcement agency recovers a piece of property and searches by the serial number/OAN, the National Crime Information Computer (NCIC) will automatically send an alert that the property is stolen along with the appropriate information of the reporting agency. By having the serial number/OAN recorded and available for the police to enter, this greatly increases our chance of recovering your item(s) that were stolen.

If you have any questions on this program, please contact the Winston Salem Police Department - Crime Prevention Unit at 336-773-7835

Burglary Prevention Checklist 

Home Inventory Sheets [pdf/77kb/5p]