The SmartWater Group, is pleased to announce it has been recognised for ‘Most Innovative Security Project’ at the BSIA British Security Awards 2022. The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has commended SmartWater for its police-led domestic abuse reduction strategy, which leverages its forensic marking technology to better protect victims of domestic abuse. 

SmartWater is a forensic marking liquid that is proven to deter criminal activity and to assist the police in securing successful convictions. It is best known for protecting property. However, it has recently been deployed to great effect by South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Staffordshire Police to target perpetrators of domestic violence.

The strategy involves working with local police officers to identify at-risk individuals who are then provided with a range of SmartWater solutions. The police then write to the victim’s attacker warning them not to visit their address and that additional security measures have been put in place. In the vast majority of cases this alone proves successful in preventing further attacks. Should the offender ignore the warnings they are liable to be sprayed with SmartWater, forensically linking them to the scene. This proves invaluable in securing a successful conviction – as was recently achieved in West Yorkshire*. 

“Domestic abuse is a serious crime, and we are committed to working with the police to tackle it,” comments Gary Higgins, Director of Commercial Operations, at DeterTech. “Abusers rightfully fear our technology as we hold a 100% conviction rate in court. It has proven to make a real impact to people’s lives and we hope to see it adopted on a national scale”.