A Smart scheme helps to slash quad bike thefts
Last updated 11:14, Thursday, 13 March 2008
RURAL quad bike thefts in Cumbria have been cut by a third thanks to Smartwater.
Police handed out 2,000 Smartwater kits – DNA-style property markers – to farmers in 2005 and say thefts of the bikes have since dropped by more than a third.
The introduction of the Smartwater kits to Farmwatch members also saw membership soar from 200 to 1,000 farmers.
Smartwater works by assigning a DNA-style signature to property marked with the product, providing proof of ownership if an item is stolen.
In a recent survey, 74 per cent of offenders said they would abandon their plans to break into a property if Smartwater signage was displayed.
Another service available to farmers is the Voice Connect scheme, which circulates police intelligence and appeals among users via text, email and recorded message.
It recently led to the recovery of two stolen Honda quad bikes from the Roweltown and Walton areas.
Superintendent Bob Pallas said: “The Farmwatch scheme and Voice Connect enables the police to effectively share intelligence with the farming community and this continues to secure convictions and return stolen property.
“Smartwater has been a fundamental element to the success of this partnership scheme and illustrates the way in which we will target and pursue those involved in this sort of crime.
“Criminal activity is not confined to urban areas and we will continue to support schemes like Farmwatch, which aim to eradicate this type of rural based crime.”
Sergeant Andy Baines, the force lead on Voice Connect, said they had more than 2,500 people registered to the scheme.
“We can provide key individuals in the community with valuable information within minutes,” he added.
“Recently we informed scheme members of a spate of quad bike thefts, and within a matter of a few hours, a user of the service provided us with information and we had suspects in custody and the property recovered – all because of the response we got to that message.”
VBrenan@cngroup.co.uk
