The Jefferson Police Department is using a new tool to help with burglary investigations.

Captain Heath Enns says a new website called LeadsOnline allows them to track items that were stolen in Greene County and sold to any pawn shop in the country, as well as Ebay, and who sold the items. Information that the website provides includes the individual’s fingerprint, signature, social security numbers and driver’s license. It can also show any alias or associates with the individual who is selling the items.

“And not only does it go in the past, but it goes into the future. So if we have an item that’s stolen, we can plug in the serial number and it’ll pop up an email with that item number that shows up anywhere. At that point we can start following up with the establishment that they sold that to.”

Enns says he used the program last week to track down several lawn power tools that were recently stolen and found some of them at a pawn shop in Ames within an hour. He points out that burglary can be a stepping stone to bigger crimes.

“I guess in my view, a lot of the drug crime is fueled by burglaries to help out their drug addiction. And that’s been quite a bit these past couple of years and it’s getting very, very hard to enforce the law because they’re getting smarter and we just need to stay a step above them and this is one way we can stay ahead of them.”

The Department is looking for donations to help them continue to use the program. It costs over $2,100 per year. Anyone can contact Enns or Chief Mark Clouse to make a donation.