Forensic marking has been launched in the Durham town of Darlington, to reduce burglary and theft from schools, nurseries and children’s centres, besides metal theft of street furniture and market stalls.
Funded by Darlington Borough Council, a number of council sites have received kits from security company Selectamark, which produces the SelectaDNA product. The kit contains a DNA property marking solution, property labels, tamper proof stickers, window labels (to deter thieves), and warning signs which can go on perimeters. The council seeks to mark assets such as laptops, iPads, printers, scanners, TVs and white-boards.
SelectaDNA comes in a pot of adhesive solution which can be applied to valuables. The makers say that it’s virtually impossible to remove every trace of the product and each trace links criminals to their property crimes.
Darlington’s 20,000 gully covers and market stall equipment, including the stalls and the metal weights that hold down the stalls, are also being marked with another forensic marking product, SelectaDNA Trace.
Trace is for outdoor metal marking projects. The solution contains two identifiers: Trace nanoparticles which authenticates the mark as a genuine SelectaDNA product, and metal microdots which identifies who the registered owner is. The code on the metal microdots is linked to a secure database which is accessible to police, via a secure online login.
The makers say that the main benefit of Trace over standard forensic property marking products is that it allows police to identify stolen property on the spot, which means they are no longer reliant on maybe lengthy analysis times. This has led to arrests and convictions, with thieves admitting their crime due to the on the spot evidence.
Jeff Stephenson, Risk and Insurance Officer at Darlington Borough Council said: “We are determined to reduce burglary and metal theft across Darlington and we are confident that the use of SelectaDNA products to mark valuable equipment in our children’s services establishments and libraries, as well as marking street furniture and market equipment in the town centre will help us achieve this.”
And Bill Dixon, Leader of Darlington Borough Council, said:“Theft can cost any organisation, including councils, thousands of pounds a year. In times of budget pressures, this is money we cannot afford to lose. Any measure that tackles theft effectively and that leads to the successful prosecution of thieves is to be welcomed.”
Visit http://www.selectadna.co.uk/
