Two of this country’s most ruthless and prolific armed robbers have just begun long stretches at Her Majesty’s Pleasure for a five-year campaign of crime that was interrupted by only one thing. Water.
Throughout their reign of terror, thought to have netted a cool GB pound 1 million, it was disclosed in Court that brothers Sean and Vincent Bradish allowed little or nothing to stand in their way. Using masks in a bid to defeat sophisticated CCTV systems, and sheer speed to overcome intruder alarms, the brothers were even prepared to take hostages if their attack was compromised. That all changed when one of their chosen victims, the travel agent Thomas Cook, decided to install what is being hailed as a “revolutionary” crime prevention system.
At the Bradish’s trial, the Old Bailey heard that the brothers concentrated their attacks on Thomas Cook’s famous foreign exchange counters, but were forced to switch their attention to banks, building societies and Cash-in-Transit vehicles having been ‘sprayed’ by one of the devices – known as SmartWater – during a raid on the Wallington branch in Surrey.
A British invention that aims to help end users defend their property from theft and acts of vandalism, SmartWater is a forensic deterrent similar in concept to DNA profiling. The harmless, water-based solution contains a combination of coded particles modelled on the principles of human DNA and stored in an aqueous mix. When the SmartWater system is activated, the solution is sprayed onto the skin and clothing of offenders by automatic intruder alarms and detection systems.
Once dry – and viewed under normal lighting conditions – the result is virtually undetectable, but (as the pictures reproduced above courtesy of the West Yorkshire Police show) it glows under ultraviolet light.
As stated, every SmartWater spray contains a unique code (millions of combinations are available, apparently), enabling police to obtain scientific evidence from the traces found on offenders. Forensic analysis of any traces of the solution prove that the suspect(s) must have been in a given location at the time of an incident (which is exactly how the Bradish brothers were brought to book).
The British Government’s Forensic Science Service (FSS) – a Home Office Executive Agency – manufactures the product under licence, with every coded batch being registered on the FSS’ national database. In practice, the FSS also analyses samples for evidence. Even the minutest trace of liquid is said to be sufficient for identification purposes.
A co-ordinated strategy
SmartWater was originally designed solely as a tool for the police to use on covert operations – it’s estimated that over 100 criminals have been convicted by the technology to date. In recent times, police forces across the UK have been adopting a co-ordinated strategy designed to enhance the deterrent impact by educating the criminal fraternity about the risk SmartWater presents to them. Indeed, some forces have even adapted the product to address particular crime problems in their area.
For example, the Metropolitan Police has installed more than ten ultraviolet detection suites at police stations in the Capital, each capable of detecting minute traces of SmartWater. Every arrested suspect brought to a station is checked.
Meantime, on the advice of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), a dozen or so schools in the East Manchester region – each of them said to have been ‘chronically victimised’ in times past – have reported a 90% reduction in crime post the installation of a SmartWater system. A series of almost constant break-ins have now been reduced to a handful.
GMP has also adapted the product to provide a solution to the problem of mobile ‘phone thefts. SmartWater is painted on to handsets which, when recovered, can then be analysed and returned to their rightful owner.
In Manchester, teenagers are being encouraged to have their telephones ‘marked’ for free, largely due to the fact that the city has one of the worst records for mobile ‘phone theft in the country (some 238 handsets are stolen each month). Police estimate that more than half of all reported street robberies involve mobile telephones being stolen. Interestingly, this particular scheme is being delivered by East Manchester Neighbourhood Wardens, and is supported by the New Deal for Communities.
Warwickshire Police are helping to protect businesses throughout the region by designing signage for display on lamp posts in business parks, warning would-be felons that they’re entering a SmartWater-protected area. In Birmingham, installers are actively linking the spray to their customers’ intruder alarm systems. For example, Birmingham Alarm Technicians (BAT) installed the SmartWater product – one-time winner of the Prince of Wales Award for Innovation – for a jewellery wholesaler in the city’s celebrated Jewellery Quarter. The results have justified the decision.
Broadening the scope
Although originally designed solely as a tool for the police to use on covert operations such as those mentioned, having discovered that SmartWater’s effectiveness is genuinely feared by the criminal fraternity its developers have taken matters a stage further and introduced a variant that can be used to protect motor vehicles. Good news for security managers responsible for expensive fleet cars.
The unique forensic power of SmartWater has now been enhanced by the inclusion of hundreds of laser-etched particles each bearing a SmartWater Identification Number (SIN) solely for that vehicle. Every SmartWater Instant solution boasts a unique forensic fingerprint together with its SIN, both of which correlate to just one motor vehicle and its VIN.
When a stolen vehicle is recovered, the police locate the SIN and then access a freephone Database Enquiry Line (0800 169 6999) to establish the associated VIN (see panel ‘Smart move: a deterrent for would-be vehicle thieves’ for details of the latest UK trials).
