Telford-based Smartwater's London initiative bearing fruit for Met Police
A crime-fighting campaign led by a Shropshire company has seen burglaries in parts of London fall by more than a quarter.
SmartWater is now into the third year of a programme alongside the Metropolitan Police to reduce burglaries of houses in the capital.
It has so far seen more than 250,000 homes in London provided with the Telford company's traceable liquid for free to protect property like smartphones, computers and bicycles.
Now statistics have been published covering the second year of the campaign, which show home burglaries have fallen by 27.5 per cent in areas where SmartWater has been rolled out, compared with five per cent in other parts of the city.
The figures also claim there have been 3,000 fewer burglary victims since the project began, while savings for City Hall and the Government have tallied more than £12 million. That is expected to top £50 million over five years.
The confidence rating in police now stands at 93 per cent in SmartWater areas, compared to 69 per cent elsewhere, and SmartWater's roll out is estimated to have saved 60,000 officer hours in investigation time.
The Nedge Hill company's chief executive and co-founder Phil Cleary said: “It’s been an honour to work with the MetTrace team and witness their determination to reduce burglaries in London.
"We believe that SmartWater’s established reputation is a potent threat to criminals and has played a significant part in securing this excellent result.”
Detective Chief Superintendent Iain Raphael, the MetTrace project lead, said: “We’re delighted with these results, not only because we have been able to reduce the number of burglary victims so significantly, but also the cost savings in terms of police time is good news for all Londoners.”
The MetTrace programme has resulted in savings to the Met Police of more than £2million.
Police teams throughout London have been delivering kits to residents and have been trained to detect the presence of SmartWater on stolen property.
To make homes less attractive to burglars, residents have been supplied with window stickers advertising its use. Criminals are also alerted to the initiative through the use of high profile street signs.
