WHEREAS, the theft of an individual’s identity (name, address, social security number, etc.) is a growing problem in the United States, costing citizens and commercial businesses millions of dollars through credit card fraud and other criminal activity each year; and

WHEREAS, with the growing use of modern electronics in today’s society, more personal, unsecured information is available, making an individual’s identify more susceptible to theft; and

WHEREAS, reports of identity theft to local law enforcement agencies are often handled with the response “please contact your credit card company,” and often no official report is created or maintained, causing great difficulty in accounting for and tracing these crimes, and leaving the public with the impression their local police department does not care; and

WHEREAS, law enforcement agencies can play a more active role in this area by taking more positive steps to record and seek preliminary information concerning reports of identity theft; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Trade Commission, the federal agency responsible for monitoring this area, has requested that all agencies receiving information of identity theft refer the victim to their hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Trade Commission makes all complaints available to law enforcement nationwide via the Internet through its Consumer Sentinel Network; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police calls upon all law enforcement agencies in the United States to take more positive actions in recording all incidents of identity theft and referring the victims to the Federal Trade Commission’s hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT or mail to the Identity Theft Clearinghouse, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.