It takes only a moment. Once you turn your back and leave your cell phone, wallet, laptop or anything of value unwatched for a moment, a skilled thief can make off with it fast as the blink of your eye.

Colorado State University Police Department processes more than 200 reports of stolen property a year. Often, proving ownership of an item that is stolen is challenging, and make returning belongings to an owner difficult.

Now, Colorado State University police are partnering with a free, online property registration service that helps police in any location track stolen goods and get them back into the hands of the owners. The service, called Immobilise, helps police by providing a national, centralized registration system for items that may be stolen, improving the chance that the recovered items will be returned to their rightful owners.

With CSUPD’s partnership with Immobilise, anyone in the CSU community – students, faculty, staff, and their families and friends – can register the serial numbers of items of value on Immobilise. If your items become lost or stolen and are recovered, the registry points police to the owner. The registry also helps with insurance claims.

CSUPD suggests registering cell phones, laptops and notebooks, stereo equipment, bikes, video game components, cameras, and other valuables. Online registration is free and easy.

Members of the university community are still required to register their bikes through CSUPD’s university bike registration system as well, which helps the university track bicycle use on campus, needed infrastructure and assists with reuniting lost and stolen bikes with the campus community.