West Mercia Police call handlers ‘fail’ over SmartWater

One burglary victim called the non-emergency 101 line and had to explain to the operator what the anti-theft marking liquid was, a parish council has heard.

West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner budgeted £145,000 to roll out SmartWater and the wider We Don’t Buy Crime scheme this year, with 30,000 homes now protected.

Scheme leader Chief Superintendent Tom Harding said officers and PCSOs were fully trained in the use of SmartWater, and those in 'relevant roles' equipped with special UV torches to identify marked items.

Susan Finzi, the Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator for Cold Hatton, told Waters Upton Parish Council a resident in her area had a circular saw and its stand stolen from his home.

“The resident rang 101 to report the theft and made a point of mentioning that both items were SmartWater marked,” she said. “Unfortunately, the operator who answered the call did not know what SmartWater was.

“From the information the resident had to give him it was obvious that he had received no training regarding the benefits of marking property with it.

“We were obviously shocked as the police have campaigned long and hard to sell the benefits and we were aware that West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion had subsidised the cost of the packs.”

She pointed out that many villages in the area had signs stating they belonged to We Don’t Buy Crime, and that she and other Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators actively encouraged people to buy and use Smartwater kits.

Disappointed

She said: “We were very disappointed the information which “sold” us on the product was not being circulated within the “police family” to 101 operatives to raise awareness.”

A spokesman for Mr Campion said the majority of the £145,000 allocation for 2018-19 consisted of the cost of Smartwater kits themselves, with the remainder covering signage, stickers and other promotional material.

Of the 30,000 homes now protected across the force area, just under 5,000 of those are in Telford and Wrekin.

Chief Superintendent Tom Harding, West Mercia’s We Don’t Buy Crime lead, said: the partnership was having a “significant impact”, with burglary halving in some We Don’t Buy Crime towns and villages.

“I would like to offer my assurance that ensuring our workforce is aware of its benefits is important to us,” he added. Officers and PCSOs are fully trained in its use.”

“Officers in relevant roles are equipped with a specialist torch to identify if property they recover has been marked, with the forensic liquid’s unique code enabling us to identify who it belongs to.”

Chief Superintendent Harding added that police station property stores and custody suites are equipped with UV lights.

He said theft suspects were also routinely scanned to see if they had been in contact with any Smartwater-marked items.