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Gene paint is tipped to brush away burglars
Andy Tristem
A PIONEERING "liquid DNA" paint is set to slash burglaries across Westminster.
Detectives at Marylebone Police Station are to introduce the revolutionary crime-fighting weapon called SmartWater in April.
The paint, which is invisible to the naked eye, coats computers or mobile phones with millions of tiny particles that can be linked to a database holding the owner's details.
Officers will carry ultra violet (UV) lights to reveal the paint during routine police work.
DCI Steve Bourne, of Marylebone police, said: "If a cop stops a car and finds a laptop, half the problem is not knowing who it belongs to. This system would allow them to find out that the owner is, say, a business on the high street.
"It will frighten off burglars from committing crimes in the first place."
Detectives will be promoting the scheme to firms in Marylebone and St John's Wood over the next few months. The paint can also be brushed onto cars, motorbikes, jewellery, TVs and DVD players.
Marylebone and Croydon police are the first forces to use the system in London.
In a recent trial on a crime-ridden estate in Hartlepool, burglaries plummeted from five thefts a month to just one.
Karen Buck, MP for Regent's Park and Kensington North, said SmartWater could have a similar effect in Westminster.
She said: "If we can get a clear message out to owners and potential burglars that the material they steal could be traced at any time, then we could be on the edge of a major breakthrough.
"Publicising the system is almost as important as the technology because it will sow the seeds of doubt in the minds of criminals."
The paint was developed by SmartWater Security Systems in Shropshire. The firm claims that it is virtually impossible to scrub the substance off because the molecules stick to the nooks and crannies of a product.
Ibrahim El Nour, chief executive of the Edgware Road Association, said: "We have some characters that go into restaurants and try to sell goods like stolen computers. We are already trying to crack down on this but (SmartWater) will help as long as the thieves know that what they have stolen is worthless."
Police could also deploy traps for burglars using hidden pressurised canisters containing SmartWater.
If a burglar triggers the device he is sprayed with the water. It remains invisible to the naked eye but cannot be removed from the clothes or skin for months and glows bright green under a UV torch.
Police can then scour the streets with high-powered UV torches that illuminate suspects and immediately prove a burglar was at the scene of a crime.
andy.tristem@hamhigh.co.uk
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