Quote:
Originally Posted by Iroc at life
Then if a dealer bought it and got it salvaged inspected, but never put it back on the road, it could technically still show as stolen on the computer.
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This is incorrect, at least as far as NCIC (the national law enforcement database). If it was recovered by the same agency that it was originally reported stolen to, the steal should be cleared from NCIC.
If it was recovered by another agency, a "locate" should have been sent to the original agency, who would then confirm the steal was still active for the recovering agency and then the originating agency would remove the steal from NCIC. Only the originating agency can remove a steal.
It is possible for the ball to get dropped and a vehicle to be physicaly recovered but the steal not removed from NCIC, although they are *supposed* to audit their data and validate that the vehicle is still stolen at certain intervals.
(I've been a "full operator" for NCIC for over 16 years)
*edit*
Also, for the NCIC operators, remember it's a violation to release NCIC information to someone who can't receive it on their own, ie is not also an operator. It's very unlikely anyone would care for this sort of thing, but if your agency was audited and your query came up "I saw the VIN on a website" is not going to be a valid reason to run it. Nobody is going to pull your certification for it, but it's still a violation.