The National Stolen Art File 52 Fbi L Enforce Ment Bulletin
THE Silver LINING
Coping with Theft, Vandalism, Deterioration, and Bad Press
10. The Federal Bureau of Investigation'southward Art Theft Program
Lynne Chaffinch
On St. Patrick's Day 1990, ii men disguised as police officers broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, and stole twelve pieces of art valued at approximately $300 one thousand thousand. The paintings—including works by Rembrandt, Degas, Manet, and Vermeer—take never been recovered.
The illicit merchandise in art and cultural property has become a major category of international crime. This includes theft of individual works of art, illegal export of objects protected by international laws, pillaging of archaeological sites, and vandalism. Art criminal offence is an international problem requiring cooperation at all levels of law enforcement. To aid in this endeavor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established the Fine art Theft Program in 1992 to assist law enforcement agencies investigating these cases. A major component of the Fine art Theft Program is the National Stolen Art File, a computerized database of stolen art and cultural property equally reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and internationally. Thefts from museums and libraries business relationship for approximately 18 percentage of the cultural belongings theft cases reported to the National Stolen Art File.
Every institution that maintains collections is at gamble from theft. As public sensation increases regarding the institution'due south responsibility to manage its collections, the institution'southward staff is nether more rigorous requirements to protect the collections. Constabulary enforcement agencies work closely with cultural institutions and rare book and art dealers nationally and internationally to try to track down perpetrators of such thefts and to recover stolen cultural property.
To help cultural institutions in agreement federal laws and reporting procedures concerning theft of cultural belongings, I shall kickoff describe governing statutes, then give guidelines for responding to an incident of fine art law-breaking and procedures for reporting the theft to constabulary enforcement officials, and, finally describe databases regarding stolen fine art.
The Theft of Major Artwork statute was signed into police force in 1994, making it a federal offense to steal from museums and libraries. Post-obit is a summary of the specifics of the statute:
Championship 18, United States Code, Section 668—Theft of Major Artwork—makes it a federal offense to obtain by theft or fraud any object of cultural heritage from a museum. The statute too prohibits the "fencing" or possession of such objects, knowing them to exist stolen. In defining what constitutes such an institution for its purposes, the statute states that "museum" means an organized and permanent establishment, the activities of which affect interstate or foreign commerce, that satisfies the following requirements:
(a) it is situated in the United states of america;
(b) it is established for an essentially educational or aesthetic purpose;
(c) it has a professional staff, and
(d) information technology owns, uses, and cares for tangible objects that are exhibited to the public on a regular schedule.
An "object of cultural heritage" means an object that is:
(a) over 100 years one-time and worth in backlog of $five,000; or
(b) worth at least $100,000.
The statute describes two offenses. One results when someone steals or obtains by fraud from the care, custody or control of a museum whatever object of cultural heritage. The second involves knowing that an object of cultural heritage has been stolen or obtained past fraud.
Title 18, United States Code, Section 3294, states that no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a violation of or conspiracy to violate Department 668 unless the indictment is returned or the data is filed within twenty years after the committee of the offense.
Title xviii, United States Code, Department 659—Theft from Interstate Shipment—makes it a federal criminal offense to steal or obtain past fraud anything from a conveyance, depot, or terminal, whatever shipment being transported in interstate or strange commerce. The statute also prohibits the fencing of such stolen property. Section 1951—Interference with Commerce by Threats of Violence (the Hobbs Act)—makes information technology a federal offense to obstruct interstate commerce past robbery or extortion or to use or threaten to use violence against any person or property in interstate commerce. Likewise, Sections 2314 and 2315, regarding interstate transportation of stolen property, prohibit the transportation in interstate or foreign commerce of any appurtenances with a value of $5,000 or more than past anyone knowing the goods to be stolen. These statutes besides prohibit the fencing of such goods.
Illegal Trafficking in Native American Man Remains and Cultural Items, Section 1170, prohibits the sale of the man remains or cultural artifacts of Native Americans without the right of possession of those items in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Human action. Finally, Championship eighteen, U.s.a. Code, Sections 641 and 2114—Theft of Regime Holding—make it illegal to steal or embezzle any regime belongings or to commit robbery of regime holding.
The FBI has prepared guidelines for responding to the theft of cultural property and for reporting the theft to police enforcement officials. Earlier a theft occurs, it is important that an establishment protect itself past appropriate actions. These are listed here.
(1) Catalog all collections and maintain a backup copy of object records. Include in the concrete description: type of object, title, maker, engagement or period, materials or techniques, measurements, inscriptions and markings, distinguishing features, bailiwick, short description, and image of the object.
(2) Review security procedures for exhibitions, drove storage areas, and transportation of objects. Include registrars or collections managers, curators, security personnel, and administrators in the review procedure. Administrators should be present so that they are made aware of security concerns and allocate funds to these areas. Update say-so levels and admission procedures to drove areas for staff and visitors. Monitor or escort people inbound collections storage, including volunteers, researchers, and VIPs. Upgrade access doors to card readers, or change locks at regular intervals, and immediately after a central is lost or an employee is terminated. Document which keys, cards, and access cards are in the possession of each staff fellow member. Evaluate security equipment and repair anything inoperable. Assess exhibition areas to ensure that display cases are secure and objects are protected by barriers, security alarms, or both. Asking funding to upgrade security systems every bit needed. Evaluate security effectually the outside of the building.
(3) Cheque employment references and perform criminal history checks on all employees.
(4) Ready an institutional emergency program that addresses property theft. Contact local constabulary enforcement agencies and plant liaison with the officers who would respond to matters of cultural property theft at your museum or library. Include their names and contact numbers in the emergency plan, along with the telephone number for the local FBI office. Update contact information every six months. Invite police force enforcement officers to visit the museum or library before an incident occurs. Hash out the institution's mission and collections and review possible threats to the collections.
(v) Continue in regular contact with local constabulary enforcement agencies, and stay informed regarding possible threats to the institution. Law enforcement tin can provide intelligence on gang action in the area and suggest institutions if increases in criminal activity are occurring. They can too inform the institution of local events that may pose a security concern, such every bit a big parade or festival.
(6) Request your fine arts insurance company to conduct a walk-through of the institution to evaluate the security of the collections. Document any comments for improving security of the collections, and evaluate implementation of suggestions.
(7) Make staff aware of security concerns and request that they contact the appropriate staff member if they come across annihilation suspicious. Create an incident form that can be completed when events occur in the institution.
(8) Perform visual inventory and spot checks of the collections on exhibition and in storage.
When a theft occurs, there are a number of deportment the FBI recommends, equally follows:
(i) Protect the scene of the criminal offence, and do not allow staff or visitors into the area to disturb evidence.
(2) Telephone call the local constabulary department immediately
(3) Call the local FBI office if the stolen objects fulfill the criteria nether the Theft of Major Artwork provision (Title 18, United States Lawmaking, Section 668). The object must exist more than 100 years old and valued in backlog of $v,000 or worth at least $100,000. For thefts outside the United States, the FBI maintains more than than thirty legal attaché offices overseas, which can process requests for assistance with cultural property thefts.
(4) Determine the last time the objects were seen and what happened in the area, or to the objects, since that time.
(5) Identify witnesses and gather all pertinent information regarding the theft and suspect or suspects for the law enforcement agency
(vi) Set written descriptions of stolen objects for the police, including photographs of objects if available.
(7) Contact the donors or lenders, if applicable, to suggest them of the theft.
(eight) Contact the insurance company and file an insurance claim.
(9) Consummate an incident report for internal use.
As regards recovery from a theft, the FBI recommends that a museum:
(i) Evaluate the theft and determine continuing threats to the collections. Update security policies or equipment, if necessary.
(2) Prepare statements for the media, and plan the institution's strategy for dealing with public relations issues.
(3) Prepare a theft written report having images and descriptions of stolen objects and distribute the report to museums libraries, auction houses, dealers, galleries, and collectors who may be offered the objects for sale. Coordinate with the investigating agency.
(4) Perform follow-upwards with the police force enforcement agency and request updated reports on the progress of the investigation.
An of import resource is the National Stolen Fine art File (NSAF). This database was developed as a law enforcement tool. Therefore, simply law enforcement agencies can submit requests to add together objects to the database or to accept the database searched. The file lists example data, including suspects and modus operandi, and provides object descriptions and images. Victims of theft should check with the investigating officer to make sure that the officeholder is enlightened of the database and that data about stolen objects is submitted to the FBI Art Theft Program by the investigating officer. The FBI besides maintains a Web page with art theft notices listed at <www.fbi.gov>. Institutions can asking that their objects exist placed on the notices that are distributed through the investigating agency.
The file is located in Washington, D.C., at the address National Stolen Fine art File, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Major Theft Unit, room 5096, 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20535. The phone number is (202) 324-4192, and the fax number is (202) 324-1504. Additional data regarding the NSAF can be found on the FBI Spider web page, <www.fbi.gov>, under the heading "Headquarters and Programs/Criminal Investigative Division."
The Art Loss Annals (ALR) is a individual company funded primarily by insurance companies. The ALR conducts searches of its database for auction houses, museums conducting due diligence searches during provenance enquiry and acquisitions, and private individuals. Further information tin exist found at the ARL Web site, <www.artloss.com>. The address is Art Loss Annals, xx Due east Forty-sixth Street, suite 1402, New York, N.Y 10017. The telephone number is (212) 297-0941, and the fax number is (212) 972-5091.
The Interpol Cultural Holding Database is a database maintained by Interpol Headquarters, Lyon, France, with admission through Interpol Washington, D.C. Requests for objects to exist added to the database or searches to be performed must be fabricated through a law enforcement agency. Objects listed on this database are those that may be shipped overseas for possible sale. The address is Interpol Washington, U.Due south. National Central Bureau, 1301 New York Avenue, 4th floor, Washington, D.C. 20530. The telephone numbers are (202) 616-9000 and, for faxes, (202) 616-8400.
In addition, there are other smaller, specialized databases for stolen fine art, where an establishment may want to register its stolen objects. Staff supporting the databases listed above may be able to assist theft victims in identifying the appropriate databases to contact.
Source: https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/preserve_protect/chap10.html
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