The IAATI Component Parts Marking Award, sponsored by Recoveri Tag What’s Yours?, was presented by IAATI Director Reg Phillips (Canada) and President Bill Johnson to Vehicle ID Specialist Detective Warrant Officer Barry Thysse from the Vehicle Crime Investigate Unit (SAPS), KwaZulu Natal South Africa September 16, 2019, at the 2019 International Association of Auto Theft Investigators International Training Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.  

IAATI’s Components Parts Marking Award, sponsored by Recoveri Tag What’s Yours? is intended to honor a person or unit that has distinguished themselves with initiative and/or in- vehicle theft investigations where components parts marking played a significant part in the success.

This year the award was presented to Vehicle ID Specialist Detective Warrant Officer Barry Thysse at the Vehicle Crime Investigative Unit (SAPS), KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Since 1993 Officer Thysse has honed his skills in Law Enforcement and his passion has to lead him into the world of vehicle ID markings. Over these last 26 years, Officer Thysse has been involved with many investigations, across multiple jurisdictions and involving many diverse assignments but it is always the same… he applies what he has learned and with diligent effort delivers the goods.

Officer Thysse first joined IAATI in 2011 to be a part of a network of fellow LE Officers that could sharpen his skills and during his membership has been able to share his experience and knowledge across the 54 police stations in his area. The strangest request he ever had for training was by the South African Army Special Forces to give them practical training on how to steal a vehicle. At first, this request seemed to be a joke but it soon became evident they were serious… they needed Officer Thysse’s knowledge to increase their escape and evade ability. It appears the moral of this story is you just don’t know where your training and skills will take you so always be ready for an adventure!

If you have worked with Officer Thysse, the view you would use to identify him would be more like the photo below… where he has his head buried inside a vehicle and using his trusty light scoping out the ID marks of a vehicle.

In the year 2018 alone Officer Thysse, tasked with conducting all of the physical examinations at the Isipingo South Africa Police Service yard in Durban KwaZulu Natal, has inspected 3,540 vehicles.

SUCCESS:

During this year he achieved the identification of 48 vehicles where the only ID marks left to check were microdots. The combined value of these vehicles is 552,154 US dollars.

He also successfully identified 92 vehicles using only their “component markings” and the combined value of these vehicles was 941,385 US dollars.

What does Officer Thysse credit as his ability to achieve such amazing results? 1. He treats each vehicle as a live crime scene. 2. He protects the information that is connected to this examination. 3. He then follows the investigation process taught to him during his training. 4. The cornerstone to his success is knowing where and how to read the ID marks that have been placed on the vehicle.

Whether these are OEM or aftermarket, these ID marks are the identification clues that are the key to establishing the true ID of a vehicle and his work would not be possible without them.

IAATI also wants to encourage others to engage in the world of components parts marking. While you may never be asked to train the military how to steal a vehicle, using the training IAATI has to offer can lead to the same success Officer Thysse has seen. We encourage you to learn more about OEM (VINs, ID marks, OEM electronic parts marking) and Aftermarket (Etching or Branding Solutions, Electronic Parts Marking RF Tags, Microdots, DNA Fluids, UV Light Markings.)