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In Richmondshire, the SmartWater Tracer product has been applied to machinery and vehicles in the first Wensleydale farm in a district-wide roll-out to combat rural crime.
Thanks to £13,000 from Richmond Community Safety Partnership, farms across Richmondshire are being offered the product, a chemical invisible to the naked eye which is impossible, the makers say, to remove from marked equipment – or from the hands of thieves. The SmartWater used at each farm has its own unique โsignatureโ that can be used to identify exactly where an item of stolen property came from, helping police return the property and convict the thief.
What they say
PC Dave Cousins, the project leader, said: โAll Richmondshire police cars have the equipment to detect traces on suspects – and everyone brought into police station custody areas will be automatically checked for SmartWater. The chemical canโt be rubbed off skin, even if you know it is there, and any prisoner found with traces is plunged deep into a lot of trouble. What this means is that, once word spreads, criminals are going to be stopped in their tracks. Along with the marking, we supply stickers and notices clearly labelling the farm as protected. As soon as the criminal spots those signs he knows he is on a hiding to nothing. Anything he touches may be invisibly marked, and we will be able to tell exactly where he has been and what he has touched there many weeks later. My guess is that as soon as a thief sees those notices he is just going pack in stealing in Richmondshire and take his nasty trade elsewhere – or maybe even give it up.โ
Scanning for the product will become a routine part of all crime investigations in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire Police add. District Commander, Inspector Barry Smith, said: โWe are starting by offering free marking and entry on the national database to all 300 farms in the district, but I would like to see the scheme spread further. It is a marvellous deterrent to criminals, and an excellent tool to assist the police catch and convict those stupid enough to ignore that deterrent.โ
