Schools in south Lincolnshire are being armed with a specialist chemical in a bid to clamp down on burglaries while they are closed for the summer holidays.
SmartWater leaves a unique mark on valuables which shows up on UV scanners and is almost impossible to remove. And police have obtained enough to go around all schools in the area. SmartWater makes it more difficult for criminals to pass on stolen goods and easier for the police to trace items that have been taken and return them to their owners.
Officers have been taking it to schools over the last week so that expensive items such as computers, laptops, cameras and projectors can be marked for the summer holidays. Crime prevention officer Pete Tyrrel said: “Every year we see an increase in school burglaries during the summer time and this summer we want to try to make the schools safer.”
Signs will be put in the school grounds to warn would- be thieves about the use of SmartWater. Mr. Tyrrel says criminals are aware of the substance and are more reluctant to target places where it is used. He says in Cambridgeshire it has helped reduce burglaries by 60 to 70 per cent and added that there is a 100 percent conviction rate in cases involving SmartWater.
The substance has a unique forensic code, personal to each customer, and Mr. Tyrrel says it will be ideal for schools which all have similar computer equipment that would otherwise be almost impossible to trace.
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