MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON UNIVERSITY OFFERING COMPUTER LAPTOP REGISTRATION TO HELP PREVENT THEFT BUPD offers laptop registration - The Daily Free Press - News

To help deter laptop thefts at Boston University, the BU Police Department has initiated a new program that allows students to protect their computers registering and labeling their laptops.

The BUPD is working with the Security Tracking of Office Property Company to add a personal identification tag to the laptops of faculty and students, adding another layer of protection to a highly vulnerable necessity.

"What we do is put an aluminum plate with a barcode on the top of the laptop," BUPD officer Peter Shin said. "It has a 3M sticky tag underneath which sticks to the laptop itself reading 'Stolen Property' with a phone number to call if the plate is ever removed."

Each barcode is registered to the specific owner of the laptop, and the information is stored in a BUPD database after students go in and get the procedure done.

"Getting down all of the information necessary for the barcode takes 15 minutes, while the application itself takes about two minutes," Shin said.

Shin said BU decided to enact this program because of the success it had at other colleges across the country, including those within Boston.

"We contacted Harvard University, which also has this program in action," Shin said. "They had about five recoveries."

Not only does the affixed plate increase the likelihood that the laptop will be returned to the owner, but it also decreases the chance that it will be stolen in the first place.

"It is not worth it for criminals to take off the tag if they want to go ahead and sell it," Shin said. "Criminals do not want to hassle with it and wind up damaging the laptop."

From September 2003 to September 2004, a year when the plates were not in use, there were 50 laptop thefts reported at BU. Forty-four percent of those were stolen from dorm rooms, and 28 percent were stolen from a home or office where the computer was locked down.

Only four of the stolen laptops were recovered, with one person discovered to have stolen two laptops, according to Shin.

Despite the fact that the plates will help deter laptop thefts, students say they still have doubts about the program's potential.

"I think it won't protect people against theft," College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Adam Hadas said. "What are the chances people will give back a stolen laptop?"

Others said they expressed concerns over the security of the database, asking what would happen if someone were to get a hold of the information kept at the BUPD.

Nevertheless, added security with other measures, including lock down pads and cable wires, will further protect laptops and other computer devices from theft.

"Ideally, having your laptop with you at all times is the best way to guarantee that your laptop is never stolen," Shin said.