A social housing provider in Chester with Cheshire Police is seeking to protect its empty housing stock with DNA forensic marking.
Void properties belonging to Sanctuary Housing that are having repairs or awaiting new tenants are now being protected from metal theft by SelectaDNA.
The partnership was launched on Wednesday, November 11 when DNA detection dog Jazz, pictured, who has been trained to sniff for forensic markings on metal, will work alongside Cheshire Police officers to search scrap metal dealers in Chester for copper piping, heating boilers and other stolen metals. It’s the latest action under Operation Shield, Cheshire Police’s anti-burglary campaign which has already helped reduce burglary by 65 per cent in Lache and 50pc in Blacon compared to the same time last year (February to August 2014).
Sanctuary Housing is now marking fixtures and fittings in all of their void properties before thieves can get their hands on them. They are using Operation Shield deterrent warning posters on the doors of marked properties to warn potential burglars of the likelihood of arrest.
Chester North Community Sergeant Ian Wilson said: “Metal items in Sanctuary’s empty homes are now permanently marked and this immediately devalues the items for re-sale. It is impossible for a thief to remove the marking and it will be immediately obvious to a police officer if someone has tried to do that. Metal thieves need to be aware that they are now much more likely to get caught in the Chester area. Offenders committing crime can find themselves marked with the forensic liquid which stays on their hair, skin and clothes and cannot be washed off. Criminals will not be able to see it in normal light – but police officers will.”
Anyone arrested in Cheshire is being screened by police under an ultra violet (UV) light in custody. If they have committed a crime in an Operation Shield area, they will be marked, and the DNA will link them directly to a crime scene. So far, more than 6,900 suspects have been screened in custody as part of Operation Shield.
Sgt Wilson added: “We are delighted to be working with Sanctuary Housing on this latest crime reduction initiative. Empty properties can be vulnerable to metal theft unless they are properly protected as thieves seem them as an easier target than those that are occupied. But by using DNA forensic marking we are determined to make these homes as secure as possible for local residents.”
For more on Operation Shield: http://www.cheshire.police.uk/about-us/campaigns-and-operations/operation-shield/.
