Smash and grab robberies – with firearms, claw hammers and machetes – put retail staff at risk as well as the public. However, retailers including luxury brands, jewellery stores, supermarkets and petrol stations are installing a security system that douses robbers with an invisible, synthetic DNA solution.
Designed as a deterrent to smash and grabs, the SelectaDNA Spray, developed by security company Selectamark, contains a forensic solution unique to each location. This means that criminals are able to be linked to the scene of a crime.
Consisting of spray heads that can be fitted above windows and doors of premises, the system is triggered as an intruder enters. The product emits a fine mist of SelectaDNA solution onto the offender that stays on the skin for weeks and is only visible under an ultraviolet (UV) light. The solution contains a UV tracer and a unique DNA code, linking intruders to the crime scene.
Jewellery stores
A number of independent jewellery shops in Lancashire are being protected from smash and grab raids thanks to the Lancashire Partnership Against Crime, by using the DNA Spray, which can be integrated into a shop’s alarm or as a stand-alone system with its own panic button. Warning signs and window stickers alert potential criminals that the product is in use and to put them off.
James Brown, Managing Director of Selectamark, said: “The jewellery stores are on busy high streets and stock high quality diamonds and custom-made jewellery including expensive watches. The fact that there have been no break-ins or attempted break-ins since the systems have been in place is excellent news for the shop owners. Activation of the system is not the goal, but rather to make would-be criminals think twice. However, if an offender was sprayed with the forensic mist, and the case went to trial, there is irrefutable evidence to ensure conviction. This is why SelectaDNA is such a strong deterrent, and there is nothing else on the market which compares to it. Other systems can help make robberies and burglaries difficult, but only DNA can link a criminal to a crime scene.”
SelectaDNA Spray has also been deployed on the Continent, Australia and New Zealand at banks, jewellery stores, retail outlets and warehouses to protect stock and assets.
A group of pawnbrokers in Sweden and upmarket jewellery stores in France are among users. In the Netherlands, a crime reduction initiative in Rotterdam saw 30 shops including boutiques and high-end jewellers covered by the spray. During the scheme, there were no robberies reported at these stores, and an overall reduction in robberies of 65 per cent in the areas where the sprays were installed.
Luxury retailer Louis Vuitton is also using the spray. The company has deployed the spray to protect delivery areas in depots in the north of England.
James Brown said: “SelectaDNA gives shopkeepers and retailers added protection and peace of mind. If the worst should happen and a robber enters the premises by force, they will be sprayed with the DNA which links them instantly to the crime scene. However, as the SelectaDNA warning signs act as a highly effective deterrent it is extremely unlikely that any offender target ‘DNA-protected’ shops. Criminals fear DNA technology more than anything else.” he warned.
More details: https://www.selectadna.co.uk/protecting-business.
