Crime Solution? Carve SS# Into Radio Front Panel

[N9LCD]

BETTER IDEA:  Don't post pictures of your shack and brag about your gear.  You're setting yourself up for a ripoff!

N9LCD

[KA4KOE]

And don't let folks on social media sites you're going on vacation.

Philip

[K0JEG]

Just engrave your initials in an inconspicuous place that only you know about i.e. under the screw on rubber feet.

That works OK for local theft, where the glue sniffer next door rips you off, but not if the equipment is transported out of your area.  A driver's license on the other hand can be ID'd by any police agency in the US.  Of course you don't have to put it on the front of the radio like in the original post, but underneath where it normally doesn't show works.

You're assuming a lot from law enforcement. I had a smash-and-grab robbery happen a while back, and I called the police only because I was concerned the thief took one of my guns (turns out he somehow missed it). They took a few pictures, got a few prints, and basically told me to check the local pawn shops to see if anything showed up.

The stuff wasn't worth filing an insurance claim over, but the thief took a laptop and tablet that could be used for extracting personal data. Nothing really dangerous, but potential for mischief. The storage on both was encrypted and password protected, but I know that there are people who can bypass such things. I told the police about this possibility, but they really didn't seem to care. To them, the value of the devices was in the hardware, not the information.

But the lesson learned is the police have more important things to do than find thieves. Like chase speeders and hassle drug dealers.

[AD6KA]

I would never engrave my SSN on a piece of gear, but
I do have my CA Driver's License number engraved on both
the back panels and inside panels of my higher end ham and
AV gear.

Why? Think about your typical residential burglary. It is almost
always a "smash & grab" by teens looking for high value items for drug money.
I don't know about other states, but in CA if you try to sell
an item in a pawn shop and there is a scratched off name
or number, the shop won't (and I *think* can not) buy it. And
where else is a thief going to "unload" ham radio gear? A nice
stereo amp is easy to sell on the street. A nice HF transceiver? Not so easy.

I could be wrong, just my way of looking at things.
Remember the old days when we didn't even lock the doors
when we went out? Of course back then everyone *knew* their neighbors,
and *cared* about their neighborhood. A lot has changed over the years.......
73, Ken  AD6KA

[WI8P]

Ken: You are making a huge assumption that a crack head will know the difference between your high end transceiver from a high end stereo.  I've had the dubious pleasure of knowing a few and they couldn't the difference between chit and shinola.  Many don't use pawn shops either - they sell to people who take the items elsewhere and advertise them on Craigslist.  Still, if the items end up in police hands, it's good to be able to make positive ID.

[KC4IWI]

KB2WIG has a great recommendation, specifically: 

OPERATION SERIAL NUMBER
In addition to marking your property, you need to keep
an inventory that records the make, model, serial number and
any distinguishing characteristics. To ease the inventory
process, the Fort Worth Police Department has created a
secure online database. The Voluntary Serial Number
Registration database for your personal items is available at
the Fort Worth Police Department’s Web site,
www.fortworthpd.com. If you prefer to maintain your own
inventory, remember to keep it in a secure place.

[W8AAZ]

Why not your call letters?  Any ham can cross that data and it is unique to you.  And unlike a name or SSN, a sticker with callsign might be passed over by unwanted persons as cryptic or useless information.  IF it looks professionally printed with a label maker.  I got mine under the battery pack of my HT.  W8AAZ means about as much as XMV21-T# or other such gibberish, to the general public.

[WI8P]

Instead of carving my SS# into my equipment, I'd much rather carve the thief's SS# in to his forehead - with an axe.   

[K5CQB]

Never use your SS#.  If the thief steals your equipment he/she now has your SS# and can use it to steal your identity.  Best case scenario is to record the serial number of the item.  Etch in the drivers license number if you must but pawn shops don't normally list that number on their reporting.  I have only seen that a few times.

The FWPD rapids system is working pretty well, we have recovered a lot of property using those stickers.  Again, record the serial numbers or if your lazy like me then use a digital camera and snap photo's  of the serial numbers.  Just don't store them on the PC which is also likely to be stolen, lol.

[KD0REQ]

serial number labels can easily be popped off.  best solution is a local sale, get crispy greenbacks and swipe them with a detector pen to see if they're genuine.  hold the meet in the parking lot of the police station if you're nervous.