Six Months On: Burglary Down By 66% In Surrey Areas

THEFT from residential properties in three areas of Surrey has dropped dramatically following the use of forensic property marking solution SelectaDNA by householders.

Burglaries from homes in Guildford, Elmbridge, and Epsom and Ewell, fell on average by 66% in the six months following the launch of the project and 58% when compared to the same time period the previous year.

Following the success of the initiative, part of Surrey Police’s Beat the Burglar campaign, all residents in the county are now being offered the chance to buy a SelectaDNA home property marking kit.

SelectaDNA is a uniquely coded, non-toxic liquid enabling homeowners to forensically mark valuable possessions such as laptops, games consoles, jewellery, electrical items and garden tools. Barely visible to the naked eye and almost impossible to remove, the solution glows under ultraviolet (UV) light making it easy for police to detect and return property to the rightful owner if stolen.

When the project was launched in April 2010, Safer Neighbourhood Teams knocked on doors in the project locations to offer the SelectaDNA home property marking kits along with general crime reduction advice. Residents were also given Surrey Police Crime Reduction Packs and encouraged to join or establish a local Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

Jamie Robinson, Force Crime Reduction Advisor, said: “The success of the initiative and the subsequent impressive drop in the number of burglaries can be attributed to the deterrent value provided by SelectaDNA.
 
“Following the successful Beat the Burglar campaign, offenders are now aware of SelectaDNA and the risks associated with stealing forensically marked property. All frontline Surrey Police officers now carry UV torches and are actively looking for stolen forensically-marked property.

“This property is becoming too hot to handle and the results of this project show that households who mark their property with SelectaDNA and display signs in the windows of their homes are not being targeted– and subsequently have not been victims of burglary.”