Network Rail Line to Deploy Crime Prevention Strategies from UK Firm

Crime reduction strategies provider SmartWater Technology has signed a deal with Network Rail to protect the infrastructure of its London to North West (LNW) mainline, which runs through cities including London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.

Network Rail will deploy SmartWater's Royal risk and crime suppression strategy in pre-defined hotspot areas across the LNW line to protect trackside cables and other materials from theft and vandalism.

SmartWater will provide Network Rail with crime prevention strategies including interweaving risk management, intelligence gathering, strategic deployment, forensic technology and an ongoing consultancy service.

The company's forensic trap devices will also be deployed to capture and convict persistent offenders.

Once activated, the non-hazardous devices will douse offenders in a chemically coded liquid which can be used to link them back to a particular crime scene, long after the offence has taken place.

SmartWater will also deploy forensic coding to mark sections of trackside cable with a chemical liquid that is virtually impossible to remove, which acts as a deterrent to thieves by allowing any stolen metals to be easily identified by police and difficult for thieves to sell any stolen goods.

The theft of metal has cost Network Rail over £35m ($55.7m) in repair bills and fines since the 2006-07 and has been responsible for 1,165,000min of commuter delays.