Property Marking Comes to Monaghan

At the February meeting of the Joint Policing Committee, an innovative venture was launched by the JPC which aims to make Co Monaghan a less attractive target to thieves. The Joint Policing Committee is a partnership between the Council, An Garda Siochana and the community & voluntary sector, and its purpose is to seek joint solutions to issues facing the county. One such issue is rural crime, so when the Gardai became aware of a property marking scheme which was working very well in the UK and brought it to the attention of the JPC, the Council was quick to agree to purchase a machine and manage the lending of it to groups and businesses. The Telesis dot peen machine works by stamping your EIRCODE into the item to be marked using a pattern of dots. It varies the strength of the stamp to suit the material it is marking, and can mark carbon fibre, metal, wood, plastic – anything except glass which may shatter. Both rounded and flat surfaces can be marked. The machine comes in a tough case, and can run off mains supply or batteries, so can be taken out around farm yards to mark trailers etc.

This is the first county-wide scheme of its kind in the country, and we’re very proud to have played a part in ironing out a pilot to help get this initiative going. We hope it will make a real impact on rural crime over the coming years.

The machine is available free of charge to groups who wish to organise events.

• Sports clubs might consider holding special property marking days for club members with expensive equipment, such as carbon fibre bikes, riding tack or fishing rods. In fact, this machine can mark anything from an iPhone to an Ifor Williams!
• Schools might have expensive equipment belonging to the school marked, and might invite students to bring in devices such as tablets to be marked
• Businesses might have power tools, generators, and other portable equipment usually transported in vans marked

Signs and stickers of various sizes and in various materials are available at a very reasonable cost, which the JPC recommends that the householder invests in. After all, while having your property marked will help the Gardai to return it to you if it is recovered, wouldn’t it be even better if you could alert the thieves to the fact that it is marked and put them off lifting it in the first place?

If you would like to organise a property marking event in your area, or for your club, contact Fionnuala Mulligan in the Community Dept on 047 73720 or fmulligan@monaghancoco.ie OR Carol Lambe on 047 73725 or clambe@monaghancoco.ie to make a booking

Please read our Advice for Event Organisers to help your event go smoothly:

Info For Event Organisers PDF >>

Photo: Joint Policing Committee launch property marking scheme, February 2018. Photo Rory Geary.