Safeguarding valuables no longer has to be an enormous operation for students, thanks to the New York Police Department’s Operation ID initiative.

Operation ID is a free program offered by the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau’s Crime Prevention section to register valuable items so that they may be returned to their rightful owners should they be misplaced or stolen. The NYPD collaborated with NYU Public Safety to host an Operation ID event at Founders Residence Hall on April 18.

According to the NYPD, electronic devices’ owners and contact information as well as their serial numbers can be with the NYPD. Additionally, the NYPD’s pamphlet says people can also engrave their electronic devices with serial numbers beginning with N.Y.C.

Happening Now: NYPD’s #OperationID is at @NYUFoundersHall registering your valuable items in the lobby. Come by and see us until 3 p.m.! pic.twitter.com/27eecy1Ogf

— NYU Public Safety (@NYUDPS) April 18, 2017

Vice President of Global Campus Safety Marlon Lynch said that NYU Public Safety coordinates a few Operation ID events every semester, in public locations like Bobst Library, the Kimmel Center for University Life and residence hall lobbies. Lynch also said that Public Safety works with police departments on several levels, including local and federal, and partners with NYPD to help ensure student safety.

“Public Safety maintains ongoing professional relationships with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and our team works closely with the NYPD in precincts where NYU facilities are located to enhance crime prevention measures on campus,” Lynch said.

Lynch also said that Public Safety often receives reports of property theft both on the Washington Square and Brooklyn campuses, and he reiterated that community members are encouraged to keep their valuables as secure as possible.

Gallatin freshman De’Shawn Cain said that he registered his valuables because he was worried about the large amount of personal information that was stored on his phone.

“I think it’s important, because I know when I lose something, I freak out,” Cain said. “[My phone] holds a lot of passwords and everything, so if you can get into my phone you can pretty much get into everything else.”

Cain also said that he had heard of cases where students’ valuables were stolen and were never returned.

“I recently heard of a friend who had his wallet stolen, and I heard of another friend who had her phone stolen, and she had to get a whole new phone, so that was what I was thinking about when I saw the booth,” Cain said. “I thought why not [register], just to be safe.”

Tisch freshman Brennan Goldstein said that he had his valuables registered because it reassured him.

“It is also good to know or feel safe when you have expensive things, like thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment, or a computer or whatever that people steal or people lose,” Goldstein said. “It’s just good to know that people can find it and give it back to you.”

Email Herman Lee and [email protected].