CargoTIPS: an innovative approach to combating cargo theft

Cargo theft has been estimated by the Federal Bureau o Investigations to be $6 billion annually, while others believe it to be more than $10 billion annually. Opportunistic thieves, street gangs, traditional organized crime groups, and new organized crime groups have been targeting cargo. They steal from warehouses, terminals, equipment, truck stops, or any place where freight comes to a rest. With zero inventory levels, our trailers have become virtual warehouses on wheels and easy targets for thieves. Without information and communication cargo thieves can thrive. The industry and law enforcement are forced into being reactive instead of developing proactive policies and procedures. Cargo thieves cross town lines, county lines, state lines and country borders. This makes communication within the law enforcement community imperative. CargoTIPS (cargo theft information processing system) was developed in response to the need for cargo theft information. The system allows us to collect cargo theft statistics to analyze the problem, assess the threat and develop a response on a national level. CargoTIPS includes a bulletin board, which allows users to communicate with each other, pass on alerts or seek information. The system is also used as an investigative tool. CargoTIPS can identify the mode of transportation (truck, small parcel, air, rail or ocean). It was designed to take in international data. Currently the system has identified that food products are the number one targeted commodity, followed by electronic products and third, computers and computer parts.