Ross Town Council will consider purchasing enough SmartWater to give every household in the town their own unique solution to help in the fight against crime, following a presentation by a West Mercia police officer.

Smartwater, a water-based solution that is unique to each bottle, allows property to be marked without being visible to the naked eye, and enables the police to identify the owner of the property, and potentially the offender.

It looks like water and can only be seen by using a UV light, a fact which PS Ram Aston demonstrated when he visited Ross Town Council on Monday, February 10. It can be used on jewellery, tools, items such as quad bikes and even pets. He said that pets are often microchipped but a determined dog thief will know how to remove the chip, he added that will not be possible to remove the SmartWater.

He explained criminals do not like SmartWater as they know that if they are arrested and pass through the UV light screens at the custody suite it will become obvious they have touched an item marked with the solution and the ‘DNA’ of the marks will identify where this happened.

He said it is an excellent crime prevention method, one part of West Mercia’s award wining We Don’t Buy Crime initiative. He said in the areas where residents have taken up the offer of SmartWater burglary has reduced.

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