Students and community members living in areas most affected by burglary are to benefit from software to protect their laptops.

The scheme will offer free protection for thousands of computers across the city in a bid to deter thieves from stealing them and to encourage handlers of stolen goods not to buy and sell them on.

ComputraceOne is theft recovery software, which enables the Absolute Theft Recovery Team to work with local police forces, to track and recover the equipment.

Nottinghamshire Police, the Nottingham Crime & Drugs Partnership and other agencies have provided funding to give out the licenses free of charge in a bid to reduce laptop theft.

In 2007, there were 665 burglaries in the city where laptops were stolen. Students are often victims of this type of crime and can lose valuable coursework as a result.

Detective Inspector Sean Anderson, who developed the initiative for the city, said: “This software will provide a peace of mind for many students and members of the public who are concerned about work and files stored on their laptops. People often forget to back up information on laptops and if they are stolen, then it is lost forever.

“ComputraceOne enables us to work with the Absolute Theft Recovery Team to trace stolen laptops. The information is only tracked in the event of a theft and as the software is installed at factory level, it can only be disabled by the specialised team at Absolute.

“It literally takes a couple of minutes to install the software and we have police teams, student ambassadors and volunteers offering the service.

“We will be targeting people who buy stolen laptops, executing warrants and making arrests where necessary. We will also be gathering intelligence about known offenders and the venues they are using to sell on stolen goods and who buys them.

“We are extremely confident that this software will make a difference both in reducing theft of laptops and making people who own one feel more safe.”

Allan Breeton, Director of Operations for the CDP said: “The technology ComputraceOne provides is groundbreaking and complements other burglary reduction activity currently taking place here. Burglary has fallen in the city and we will use every resource at our disposal to prevent further incidents.

“With this technology installed, stolen laptops can be pinpointed to any location, anywhere. No longer can a stolen laptop be sold on through the stolen property market anonymously, wherever the laptop ends up, the police will find it and find those responsible for stealing it.”

For more information about ComputraceOne please call 0 1635 304 24 or visit www.absolute.com