The Inverness Crime Prevention Panel (ICPP) is working in partnership with the Northern Constabulary and has launched SelectaDNA at Crown Primary School with the aim of protecting expensive school equipment such as laptops, PC’s and whiteboards from theft.
The SelectaDNA kit is already being used throughout the UK. Each kit is registered to the individual school and contains a unique locked-in code which means it cannot be replicated or decoded.
SelectaDNA can be applied directly onto school equipment in order to irrefutably mark the items, making them immediately less attractive to thieves as they would be harder to on-sell. If an item is stolen and then recovered by Police, the DNA marking can positively identify which school it belongs to.
Jim Ferguson, chair of ICPP, said “Crime prevention is crucial part of the fight against crime and SelectaDNA is proven product, well-known to be a useful deterrent. We are delighted that Crown School has joined the programme.”
Although the school has not been a victim of theft, Crown’s headmistress Mrs. Cowie was keen to be involved in the scheme so that an effective deterrent is in place to help prevent crime happening in the future, keeping the school safe and secure.
In the east London borough of Havering, every school is being protected by SelectaDNA forensic marking following the introduction of an extensive scheme in the area.
Theft from schools has been a major problem for the Havering Local Education Authority (LEA) costing approximately £250,000.over an 18 month period. Initially, the schools used the SelectaMark product to deter theft, now SelectaDNA has been introduced to mark all valuable items in these school like those at Crown Primary School in Inverness. Even musical instruments have been marked with the forensic DNA tool.
Penny Patterson from Havering LEA, said “Schools in the area have given us positive feedback. They say the product is easy to use and some of the schools have even involved pupils in the process of marking equipment so they can pass on the message about how important security is at school and at home. The SelectaDNA product was chosen over others as it presented best value.”
Local Police in Havering have also confirmed that SelectaDNA forensic marking is extremely effective at deterring thieves, especially when the scheme is properly advertised and promoted locally with warning signs and posters.
Since the introduction of the Selecta products to the schools in Heavering, there has only been one burglary reported from a school in the area. Overall, theft from schools reduced by 46% borough-wide.
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