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Police in Bloxwich are tackling crime in Beechdale with the help of SmartWater.

Neighbourhood police officers have been providing SmartWater marking to vulnerable residents’ properties in an effort to deter would-be thieves from stealing lead from around windows and roofs. This is one of the most common types of crime reported in the area. Houses in the Beechdale area have now been marked with SmartWater, making the lead traceable.

SmartWater works by assigning metals and other items of property with their own chemical code which is uniquely registered to its owner and is virtually impossible to remove. The invisible liquid can only be seen using UV light, which can then be analysed to trace any stolen goods back to their rightful owner. Officers are also working in partnership with local scrap metal dealers and are warning would-be thieves that they will be caught.

Sergeant Lynsey Damms, from Beechdale neighbourhood policing team, said: “Scrap metal dealers are now aware that any stolen metal marked with SmartWater can be traced and are questioning the origin of metal.
“This, in turn, is making stolen metal worthless to thieves.”