Coraider

Sussex Police report that - among other benefits - they make three times more money using Bumblebee auctions than they did with local auctions. That should be good for business, see the Coraider Services website for more details.

With regard to Virtual Bumblebee they also say:

By matching seized property to victims of crime and by opening new lines of enquiry, it is helping to increase the number of offenders brought to justice.

I'm really very pleased about that. Perhaps it is the first sign of the logjam moving on the topic that I have been banging on about since 2003 when I wrote:

It is intended that the Virtual Bumble Bee system will grow into a comprehensive UK database of lost and recovered property. When this happens, secure RSS feeds from this database could be a valuable investigative tool.

The poster that Surrey Police produced to support the Milly Dowler investigation says

Officers are also keen to find Milly's clothes and possessions:
School uniform of navy blue blazer, light blue V-neck jumper, white blouse, short grey skirt, navy and light blue striped tie.
Pair black 'Pod' shoes.
Nokia 3210 phone with silver front and blue back marked �Milly�,
beige and black Jansport rucksack and
white plastic purse with red heart motif.

It would be comparatively straightforward to provide an RSS feed that would notify appropriate officers if whenever a phone or a rucksack matching this description was found or seized.

Its also heartening to read reports that Charles Clark is to make encouraging collaboration between Police forces a priority. Even though I'm scarcely disinterested, Bumblebee is exactly the kind of thing into which they should be putting resources.