Police Target Farm Thieves
A police spokesman has said that SmartWater was having a positive effect in combating rural thefts.
Any property or equipment covered with SmartWater will have its own unique fingerprint, which will show up using ultra-violet lighting. Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary rolled out the use of SmartWater last month.
The spokesman said that thefts from farms were often the work of travelling gangs from elsewhere in the country, and that SmartWater was helping to deter this.
Police have recently traced rural thefts in Wigtownshire to Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Cumbria, and stolen quad- bikes have been recovered as far away as Derbyshire. All FarmWatch members have been offered SmartWater and are being encouraged to put it into use.
Should property ever be stolen and then recovered, the marking will allow the police to identify owners. It is also available in a spray system used as part of a special alarm, which can link offenders with particular crime scenes. These have already been placed on some vulnerable premises within the region and will continue to be set up in appropriate places.
Speaking when SmartWater was launched in December, Crime Reduction Officer Alistair Mitchell said: “The introduction of Farm Watch and SmartWater illustrates how by working together with the community we will target and pursue these offenders.”