Hi-tech police target robbers

Dec 10 2007 by Caroline Innes, Liverpool Daily Post

POLICE are using specialist forensic technology to clamp down on a seasonal surge in cash-in-transit robberies in Merseyside.

Merseyside Police have joined forces with SmartWater Technology Ltd, and G4S Cash Services (UK) to cut the number of robberies, which traditionally increase in the run-up to Christmas.

A spokesperson said the force was using a new product to protect cash.

The spokesman said: “SmartWater is a unique method of marking items that is invisible to the naked eye and contaminates people who handle these items.

“The development of this unique forensic solution will be incorporated into a variety of anti-theft systems.”

The first company to use the technology is G4S Cash Services (UK), which operates across Merseyside.

Criminals who break into G4S’s cash-boxes will become contaminated by SmartWater.

Ultra-violet scanning lamps have been installed at every police custody suite in Merseyside to ensure suspected criminals can be checked, and handheld scanning devices have been issued to officers to enable them to scan during routine stop checks.

Assistant chief constable Helen King said: “Merseyside Police is leading nationally in the fight against cash-in-transit crime. SmartWater technology is a significant development.”