If Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb’s character on Dragnet) were around today, I’m sure he and his partner would be featured in an episode investigating cable theft. With Sgt. Friday’s strict attention to detail, he would look for any clues that might tell him who owned the cable and where it came from.
For thoses who might not know what I’m talking about, Dragnet was a popular television police show in the 1950s and ‘60s. In real life detective work, as well as on television, a good cop follows up on every lead. That’s exactly what police did in Roseville,CA (outside of Sacramento).
Back in April, a detective from the Roseville Police Deparment was investigating a cable theft case. The detective contacted our customer service department asking for CommScope’s assistance in identifying the owner of a particular fiber optic cable reel. The reel was found in the possession of a person who was arrested and charged with multiple drug-related offenses and who had allegedly stolen the reel.
The detective told customer service that reel theft is a huge problem in Roseville. He added that as drug-related crimes increased, so has theft. Not only are reels being stolen, but wires are being stripped from light poles.
Upon finding our fiber reel, the detective wanted to know who the customer was and if it could be used as evidence to prosecute the suspect. The detective provided us with the 11-digit serial number printed on the cable jacket—the WebTrak® number.
WebTrakis an enhancement of our website, enabling our customers to view the factory results for all of the fiber optic cable we manufacture for them. Although each reel we deliver comes with the factory-test results attached, ensuring that the product meets or surpasses our specifications before it is delivered, often the hard copy test reports get misplaced. WebTrak provides easy access to those test reports simply by typing in the 11-digit serial number on the WebTrak portion of our website. WebTrak serial numbers are printed on every two feet or every meter of the fiber optic cable jacket.
After using WebTrak, we told the detective who purchased that fiber from us. As a result, a possession of stolen property charge is currently being reviewed by the Roseville District Attorneys Office.
Last August, I blogged about WebTrak’s benefits and how it provides our customers with “peace of mind.” This story goes way beyond providing customers with peace of mind. WebTrak proved that crime doesn’t pay. Joe Friday would be proud.
