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HUNDREDS more homes across the north of the county will be offered the chance to have SmartWater installed. The crime prevention scheme involves partnership working between Northamptonshire Police, East Northamptonshire Council, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and Northamptonshire County Council. Members of the partnership will be visiting homes in Park Avenue, Park Place, North Street, Rectory Road, Glassbrook Road and Hall Avenue in Rushden next week (from Monday 21 July). The campaign aims to boost the amount of homes that use the SmartWater technology to protect their belongings in the East Northamptonshire area. During the first stage of the campaign - in conjunction with Wellingborough Borough Council - partnership workers visited 600 homes in Wellingborough. The second stage took the partnership to Kettering, where a further 600 homes were contacted and there are plans to take the scheme to Corby. Sergeant Dennis Murray, of the Force's Community Safety Department, said: "We are rolling out SmartWater to areas across the north of the county with a view to tackling dwelling burglaries and auto crime issues. "SmartWater has been shown to reduce burglary by as much as 80 per cent. "The technology has already been offered to homes in Kettering and Wellingborough and there are plans to take the scheme to Corby. "We hope the scheme - which has involved a lot of hard work with our partners at Kettering Borough Council, Wellingborough Borough Council, Corby Borough Council and East Northamptonshire Borough Council - will reap rewards in terms of reducing crime." Each of the 600 homes has received a letter with details of the scheme and advising them to expect a home visit between Monday 21 July and Friday 25 July. Between 4pm and 8pm on each of the four days, Crime Prevention Advisors will visit all 600 plus homes to explain how and why they should use SmartWater and help them complete the simple registration document. All 600 homes will be given, free of charge, a SmartWater property marking pack that also contains small discreet stickers for residents to display at their front and rear doors. Mike Deacon, Head of Environmental Services at East Northamptonshire Council, said: "SmartWater is forcing criminals to think twice before committing property crime, as the risk of getting caught is too high. "It puts the fear back on them. This initiative was rolled out in Kettering and Wellingborough with excellent results and we are anticipating a similar outcome here in Rushden. "We are pleased to be working with the police and other community safety agencies on such an effective crime deterrent." SmartWater is a property marking system that carries a unique DNA forensic code for each household signed up to the scheme. Residents are simply asked to mark their valuable items with the SmartWater. Once marked, the item then carries a unique signature that allows lost or stolen property to be identified and returned to its rightful owner. SmartWater is therefore a forensic link between property and its owner. And Northamptonshire Police has ultra-violet detection equipment in custody suites and prisoners will be checked routinely for signs of SmartWater contamination. Members of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue will be among the home visiting teams offering to supply and fit a free of charge smoke alarm to those homes without protection. News Source:
http://www.northants.police.uk/ |
