Lanier with stolen phones. Photo courtesy of @mayorvincegray

Come October 31, cell phone theft—a big problem in D.C.—will become less profitable.

The Washington Times reports that on that day the nation’s cell phone carriers will implement a cross-carrier database that will allow them to identify and disable stolen cell phones:

“When the Oct. 31 deadline comes around and the solution by the North American cell carriers goes into place, where they have to blacklist, essentially, the stolen phones, I think that will help significantly,” Chief Lanier said during a recent news conference about arrests made in a robbery. “It’s not going to stop all robberies. It’ll take the motive out of snatching of cellphones, so Oct. 31 can’t come fast enough.”

The database will allow the carriers to check phones across networks based on unique identifiers, so even changing a SIM card out of a phone won’t make it usable if the phone is flagged as having been stolen.

In February, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier warned of an uptick in the theft of smart phones and other electronic gadgets, and in March Lanier announced the arrest of 16 people associated with 13 businesses that were accused of peddling in stolen phones. (We found out that even a Manny & Olga’s on Georgia Avenue was being used to trade in stolen phones and other gadgets.)

During subsequent months, she slammed cell phone carriers for not doing enough to stop thefts, leading to an April announcement by the FCC that it would team up with carriers to implement tools that would make it easier to make stolen phones unusable.