UK use Property Marking to reduce crime

Monday, 17 August 2009

Across the UK, SelectaDNA is being used to reduce the rate of burglary and theft in commercial and residential areas.  Schemes have been launched with great success in what have been known trouble spots for local Police Authorities. In a pilot scheme based in Greenwich Borough, London, an area of 500 homes were identified as being a suitable area to assess the effectiveness of SelectaDNA. SelectaDNA was applied to all properties in the hot-spot area which included large numbers of repeat victims. Signage, posters and window stickers were then used within the area to alert potential thieves of the presence of SelectaDNA in conjunction with significant media coverage. UV lights were made available to all Police Stations in the borough, and also to all Cash Converter stores to prevent any stolen marked property being sold on.

The Pilot Scheme proved to be a phenomenal success with an incredible 85% reduction in domestic burglary, 60% reduction in theft from vehicles and a 50% reduction in theft of vehicles.   

A similar scheme was run in East Dulwich, London.  Traditionally this area was riddled with crime and was chosen in order to truly test the deterring capabilities of SelectaDNA.  In this scheme the results were staggering.  Of the 1000 homes kitted out with SelectaDNA, ZERO residential burglaries were reported over a 2 month period immediately prior to Christmas.  This is an amazing feat in what is traditionally the most active time of year for thieves to operate.  SelectaDNA has helped reduce burglaries in East Dulwich by 50%.

Due to the great success of the Pilot Schemes in each respective area, local authorities have extended the use of SelectaDNA in their boroughs.  The Greenwich Borough Police have since increased residences with SelectaDNA by a further 1500 homes, whilst in East Dulwich 19% of the 5200 homes now use  SelectaDNA.

James Barber, a local councilor in East Dulwich said “SelectaDNA is the most advanced and best value property marking kit on the market.  This scheme means we can help 1000 homes or 20% of the homes in East Dulwich this year become much less attractive targets for burglars.”  He concluded, “Our target is for East Dulwich to go from being third best for lowest reported crime levels in Southwark to first.  In one years time I expect to be able to say that East Dulwich is number one for lowest reported crime in Southwark.”

In Hampshire, at the National Motor Museum, SelectaDNA is being used to protect the vehicles on display that are collectively valued at over £50 million.  Doug Hill, Chief Engineer at the museum, said that his team has been waiting for years to find a marking tool that is not invasive to the vehicles.

“We didn’t want a stamp number or similar product which could damage the vehicles,” said Mr. Hill.  “SelectaDNA is perfect because we can apply it to each part of the vehicle, even inside it’s engine casings.  It’s virtually invisible to the naked eye which is ideal for our purposes”
He added: “It’s extremely important for us to deter the theft of these classic cars and their parts.  We have strong security here at the museum, however our vehicles appear all over the world at rallies, shows and events.  We also hope that publicising the fact that our collection is forensically marked in this way will help deter any would-be thieves.

Since it’s implementation, the museum has had 100% success with no items stolen that have been marked with SelectaDNA.

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