DNA marking helps deter burglars (From Witney Gazette)

DNA marking helps deter burglars

2:28pm Tuesday 19th February 2008 in Witney By David Horne

ELDERLY and vulnerable people are to be helped with a synthetic DNA marking system to deter distraction burglars.

Police in West and North Oxfordshire are using special kits, initially for up to 100 people, in their latest move to cut down on burglaries.

And in West Oxfordshire, they have also taken on a volunteer to counsel and advise distressed victims against repeat attacks.

The measures were announced on Monday at Witney police station by the West Oxfordshire Community Safety Partnership.

Det Sgt Craig Kirby said: "We want to reduce offences on our vulnerable population, to cut the chances of it happening. We want to stop burglars, rather than have to detect them."

The partnership has invested £1,100 on 100 Selecta DNA kits, normally costing £49 each on the private market, which are to be handed out to residents thought to be the most vulnerable to burglary.

Each kit is able to mark up to 100 items, from war medals, wedding rings, prized pictures, and pottery to passports and birth certificates.

Microdot codes, unique to each owner, can be detected and cross-checked on a database, held by police, if the items are seized by officers or suspected as stolen property.

West Oxfordshire crime reduction adviser, Bill Butcher, said: "The unique code helps with the recovery of stolen goods, and so deters burglars."

The kits have already been extensively used in stately homes, and even by some Formula One teams to mark car parts. Two in five of the country's police forces have started taking on the system - where in some cases burglary rates have fallen dramatically - and this is the first introduction in Oxfordshire.

They will be handed out within the coming month to vulnerable residents living in streets and neighbourhoods considered most at risk from burglars. Window stickers, similar to those used for Neighbourhood Watch, will be given to each property.

Linked to the anti-burglary initiative is the appointment of retired insurance expert Peter Beaumont as a volunteer to advise elderly and vulnerable people.

He said: "My task is to come in after the police have dealt with a burglary, and help people deal with the distress.

"There is also the danger of repeat victimisation, and I will be checking up from time to time to see how they are and whether the right security locks and keys have been put in, whether they have the right numbers of hand, that sort on thing."