It consists of a liquid containing a code which can be read under ultraviolet light.[1] It is intended to be applied to valuable items, so that if they are stolen and later seized by police, their original owner can be determined.Another application is a sprinkler system that sprays a burglar with the (invisible) fluid, which can't be washed off and lasts for months, to generate evidence which connects a suspect to a specific location.
Development of SmartWater was started in the mid-1990s by Phil Cleary, a retired police detective and later CEO of SmartWater Ltd, and his brother Mike Cleary, a chemist.
SmartWater comes in three variants, "Index Solutions", "Indsol Tracer" and "SmartWater Instant", which use different techniques to embed such a code - which, according to Phil Cleary, allows "millions of chemical signatures" and is an identifier superior to genetic fingerprinting DNA.
The "Index Solutions" variant is a water-based solution containing low-level additives, which are blended using a binary sequence to ensure uniqueness. The Index Solution is contained within a spray system which is activated by a intruder detection unit, similar to a burglar alarm, and marks the intruder with a unique forensic spray, which the police locate using a black (UV) light [4]
The "Indsol Tracer" variant is a polymer emulsion[5] which blends different chemical agents according to a binary code allowing 10 billion different possibilities, as stated by the company.[3]
The "SmartWater Instant" variant consists mainly of a copolymer of vinyl acetate in isopropyl alcohol.[6] This fluid contains millions of tiny fragments; a unique number called "SIN" ("SmartWater identification number") and registered in a national police database together with the owner's details, is etched into each of those particles.[3]
Security expert Bruce Schneier has pointed out that abuse of SmartWater is possible, because an owner of a personalised solution can easily administer it to other people's valuable items. [7] However, in a later article, Schneier accepted that SmartWater worked as a deterrent citing the publication of a research paper prepared by a team led by Professor Martin Gill, [8] who interviewed over 100 criminals and asked whether or not the presence of SmartWater would deter them from committing a burglary, with 74% saying that it would[9]
SmartWater has been used by police to convict both Tier 1 [10] and Tier 2 criminals [11] [12] and company claims in press releases to have over 600 convictions to their name.
In addition, the company developed a holistic crime reduction programme, called 'The SmartWater Strategy'. During the first six months of a pilot scheme involving 100 households in a part of Kent, police recorded a reduction in burglary of 94% [13].
Another area that has used the 'SmartWater Strategy' is Nottingham, where 30,000 homes have now had their property marked with individual SmartWater signatures and covert operations using SmartWater were instigated by the police. There has been a reported a 40% reduction in burglary since the start of the initiative.
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