Chandler police introduce ‘traceable liquid’ tech to prevent property crimes
Oct 27, 2017, 4:03 AM | Updated: 1:21 pm
(Flickr/Richard Masoner)
(Flickr/Richard Masoner)
PHOENIX — A Phoenix-area police department has begun using a new type of technology that helps prevent property crimes.
The Chandler Police Department has partnered with SmartWater CSI, an anti-theft company that uses a traceable liquid to identify stolen property.
The department is the first in the Southwest to use the technology.
A federal grant will allow officers to award 300 SmartWater kits to certain neighborhoods that have been through predictive analysis and intelligence-based policing, according to a press release.
The department will also offer a special code on Sunday to Chandler residents who are interested in buying a kit of their own. The code will be available on the department’s website and social media sites.
Each vial of SmartWater is a chemically-coded solution with its own unique forensic code — similar to DNA — that can only be spotted under a special light source.
The solution can be registered by each home or business owner and is applied by dabbing a portion on items using a special applicator.
The forensic code within the solution allows officers to link stolen property to the crime and return the item to its owner, according to a press release.
