Two a penny

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One thousand Auckland householders are today being issued a crime fighting tool which mimics DNA to mark valuables. .

It lasts on skin up to two weeks, on clothing for up to six months, even when washed, and is said to mark products indefinitely. Each bottle has a unique ‘DNA code’.

The trial is aimed at showing if burglary rates drop if the DNA solution is used by householders, and would then help the company behind the product market it.

Police and victim support workers are door knocking and handing bottles of the solution to residents of Randwick Park in south Auckland in a six month trial of the product.

Police are careful to state they are not endorsing the product, but welcome the initiative.

The Counties Manukau police district had more than 8,500 burglaries last year and more than 11,500 thefts. We are all aware burglary is a crime that affects a huge number of New Zealanders every year.

Superintendent Mike Bush, District Commander for Counties Manukau Police said police were backing the trial because: “The NZ police supports all initiatives, that actively prevent crime.”

The Randwick Park trial has gathered the official support of Counties Manukau Police, Manukau City Council, Victim Support, Housing New Zealand, the Ministry of Education and the local Manurewa Community Action Group. It’s very destructive for individuals and has an impact on the community. The Bank of New Zealand was involved in the scheme and would sell the bottles of solution.

The DNA solution is a commercial product invented in the UK in 2004 and will be sold at $100 a bottle which was estimated to mark around 100 items.

His company will carry out a survey of residents after six months asking if they have been burgled and whether goods have been located by police.

David Morrissey, a director of SelectaDNA said police-backed trials in the UK and Netherlands showed burglary rates fell between 40 to 55 percent in areas where people used the solution.

The company was also supplying all frontline police with special UV lights to detect the DNA solution. He also wanted police to release more official statistics on burglary rates in Randwick Park.

Mr Morrissey said detecting a sample the size of a pinhead was enough to help police place a person at a crime or, in the case of stolen goods, be able to return them to the rightful owner.

Police would also be given direct access to a computer database which matched the DNA codes from the solution with each bottle and who bought the bottle – so stolen property could be returned to the owner.