Batboard

I don't think that one is likely to find many stolen radios for sale in the forum, but my guess is that there are a few out there on Ebay.

One of the stickeys posted in the Astro section suggests that more than a few of the XTS5000's may be stolen. That may go for other radios which are very popular at the moment. I don't think I need to run this old Maxtrac C6 that I bought the other day, but it seems the more popular the item, the more likely it has been stolen.

Is there a web site or some other way in which a potential buyer can run a serial number to see if it has been reported stolen ? I mean a regular civilian, not in law enforcement and not privileged to NCIC and such databases.

I'm not certain that even a documented bill of sale always gets an innocent buyer off the hook or at least not without a lot of hassle.

Tis the season to steal and re-sell.

Sorry if this has been well covered previously, but thanks for any thoughts.

http://www.genesisworld.com/stolen.asp


that site is about the only thing out there to answer your queries if you do not have access to NCIC.

i'm sure you'll get lots of backseat attorney comments here, but i'll tell you what was told to me a long time ago (by a lawyer)

- you cannot file a police report "after the fact" and then charge someone with a crime - you CAN provide documentation that the radio was stolen and ask for it's return. (note i said "ASK")

this gets VERY touchy when dealing with radios that are INSURED - and a replacement is provided/purchased by the insurance company - or monies are paid to source a replacement radio to the entity that filed the claim.... recovery of the radio should equal a return of monies to the insurer - think that ever happens?


Other tidbits:

- "missing" does not equal "stolen".

- "misplaced" does not equal "stolen".

- "lost" does not equal "stolen".

NCIC *can* be an effective tool. *IF IT IS USED* and the serial number is entered into the database correctly.


the problem with the xts 5000 - is - #1 - it's desireability (especially in the case of the model 3) - and #2 - with it's (current) INABILITY to have the serial number electronically changed.

that said - there is another factor with the XTS 5000/XTL 5000 mobile - and that's the ELECTRONIC SERIAL NUMBER.

this one-time programmable number is unalterable - period.

you can bet that at some time in the future, the XXX ABC 1234 type serial number will cease to exist - and the serial number will consist of the ESN, just to prevent the problems like the xts 3000/astro saber - illegal (yes ILLEGAL) modification of the stored serial number information.

<edit> i wanted to comment on the ebay 5000's a little too. there are THOUSANDS of these radios overseas being used by the military. many of them are finding their way home as it doesn't take a brain surgeon to get on ebay and find out that they are worth $400-$1200 depending on the model. there are other factors involved here too that i am not going to get into - more on that to come later when the time is right....

this is one of the reasons that i am not totally against the HK 5000's (123ABC) radios out there - ***AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT BEING USED FOR PUBLIC SAFETY***. If you are a hobbyist - and can get the firmware upgraded to current and/or ensure you aren't getting a developmental codeplug problem child - they are a great value for the money.... it's just that liability issue once mr. patrol cop buys one and starts using it that makes it painful. not to mention that with 2.02 firmware and the 123ABC serial - it's pretty damn obvious where the radio came from.

pound away guys - flame on



doug

There was a discussion on the lounge about this same topic about a month ago. In short, NCIC is unreliable at best, and utterly useless at worst for determining whether a radio is hot or not. Not all stolen radios are reported stolen, not all reports are forwarded to the FBI for inclusion in NCIC, not all recovered radios are updated in NCIC and so on.

Motorola, at least at one time, maintained a list of stolen radios. I don't know if they still do, or how easy it is to reference it if in fact it does exist. Regardless, I'm certain that Motorola has a keen interest in keeping their high-dollar customers happy.

There are too many variables that come into play with regards to changing serial numbers on radios, but suffice it to say that unless you are making the software modifications for a profit or to conceal a crime then there isn't much in the way of the law to stop it from being done. It was established in Motorola v Pick that hardware modifications are entirely legitimate so long as you do not pass the finished product off as "new".