Tough economic times bring hardships to everyone and in some of the most unsuspecting ways.

According to Travis Clinesmith, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s deputy in the Community Policing Unit in Wichita, Kansas, with today’s tough economy and people losing their jobs they turn to theft.

“More times than not, the victims of these thefts are agricultural producers, co-ops, implement dealers and construction contractors,” he explains.

These groups are targeted, according to Clinesmith, because they have valuable equipment that is easily accessible and oftentimes can be sold quickly.

Being a farm kid from southeast Kansas himself, Clinesmith wanted to come up with a way to cut down on the amount of theft in rural Kansas.

“I just wanted to think of something to help agriculture,” Clinesmith says. “In law enforcement, we have a lot of information networks so we came up with an information network for farmers, ranchers, co-ops, construction contractors and implement dealers.”

That network is named the Agriculture Livestock Information Network.

“We worked with area businesses, looked at other programs and hosted focus groups to really find the ins and outs of the network,” he says.

From the general idea to conception, the program gained momentum rapidly.

By February of this year ALIN was in full swing.

“The program is designed to efficiently get information regarding stolen farm and construction equipment, as well as suspicious activities in and around farms and businesses, distributed across Sedgwick and surrounding counties,” he says. “The goal is to quickly inform all participants of suspicious activities and crime in their neighborhood via email.”

The idea is to have an email network for ag producers and others which is countywide and, hopefully, statewide.

“We want producers, co-ops, implement dealers and construction companies to register for the program so we can stop theft before it occurs,” he explains.

Stolen equipment, according to him, travels from county to county and state to state in a matter of hours.

Individuals can register to be on ALIN by calling the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office at (316) 522-2610 or by emailing alin@sedgwick.gov.

“Every time an email is sent it goes to the sheriff’s office then is sent out to all those registered with ALIN.

“This is not a police report,” Clinesmith explains. “The e-mail list will allow more people to be aware of suspicious activity or stolen equipment, tools, ATVs, etc.”

Clinesmith and his co-workers hope that by having more information available criminal activity will slow down in the country.

The ALIN program, according to him, however, is only as good as the individuals and businesses involved.

“To make this network successful, it is imperative that suspicious activities and stolen items are communicated over the Agriculture Livestock Information Network,” he explains.

ALIN has had a great response so far.

“Over 10 counties and hundreds of people are already on ALIN and we hope eventually every county in Kansas will be on the network,”he says.

Clinesmith’s passion for agriculture and the people involved in it fuels the fire to make ALIN a huge success.

“Agricultural producers are an easy target for thieves because they are much more trusting individuals,” he says. “They also have a lot more stuff sitting around and there are less people watching what is going on.”

Being involved in law enforcement for years has shown Clinesmith just how vulnerable ag producers are to theft.

“It is easy for thieves to sneak into barns and steal things, especially if they are on trailers,” he says.

ALIN has established guidelines for producers and others to document in order to make it successful.

Guidelines for stolen items include:

•When the event occurred

•What was stolen

•The color, brand and year of the item

•Include the VIN or serial number

•Describe any identifying marks

•Include a picture of the item in available

•Suspect information

Guidelines for suspicious activity include:

•Describe all individuals involved

•Height, weight, hair and eye color

•Clothing

•Color, make and model of any suspicious vehicles

•Tag number

•Describe what suspects were doing that drew attention to them

•Location

“The more correspondence we have the more information we can pass on to our deputies so they can stop them and check them out,” he explains.

Clinesmith reminds producers and others involved, that this program does not take the place of 911.

“If you have a piece of equipment stolen or there is a suspicious character in your area call 911,” he says. “The next step will then be to email ALIN at alin@sedgwick.gov.

In addition to getting involved with ALIN, Clinesmith recommends producers take a little time and do some paperwork that will help them out.

“Some simple things that will turn out to be very helpful is to secure equipment and job sites to the best of your ability, maintain records of VIN and serial numbers and put identifying markings on equipment and tools,” he explains.

Clinesmith is adamant that this is not his program. It is a program that is designed to help people in agriculture and other businesses.

“This is all designed to make things safer for yourself and your neighbors,” he concludes.

For more information on ALIN, or to be registered on the network, call the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office at (316) 522-2610 or email alin@sedgwick.gov.