Coral Gables Wants Residents To Get "Smart"
CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) – The City of Coral Gables is now offering their residents a 'smart' way to protect their homes and valuables.
The city's police department is now making SmartWater CSI available that will assist them with identifying both stolen items and the people who took them.
"Our main crime in Coral Gables is property crime so by deploying SmartWater CSI it is our hope and expectation that property crime activity in the City of Coral Gables will be significantly reduced," said Coral Gables Police Chief Dennis Weiner.
The bad guys will start to avoid areas that use SmartWater, according to Logan Pierson of SmartWater CSI.
SmartWater is a harmless chemical which residents and business owners can apply to their property. The liquid is virtually impossible to remove and leaves a long-lasting identifying forensic marking. This marking is known to remain present on a person or property for a minimum of five years and is only visible to the naked eye with the use of an ultraviolet black light.
When officers wave an ultraviolet black light over a suspect or an item and detect the presence of SmartWater, they'll collect a sample and send it off to a forensic lab where technicians will track down the registered user's information. Each solution has a unique forensic ID, similar to DNA, so police will know who the stolen property belongs to.
"We can track the valuables and that will tie the subject or the property back to that scene and we'll be able to prefer charges on that subject," said Weiner.
Coral Gables police said not only will it help them identify stolen property but also help link suspects to other crimes committed like unwanted intruders upon activation of a security alarm.
They will work like a fire sprinkler system and spray burglars when a panic button is hit.
"This is going to be up in the ceiling much like sprinkler," said Pierson.
The spray feels like a light mist and criminals likely won't know what hit them, but they'll be marked.
The liquid isn't hazardous and nearly impossible to remove. It lasts for weeks on skin and several years on clothes and property, creating an irrefutable link between the criminal and the crime scene.
"If someone were to burglarize your house and get that new TV or jewelry, the fact that you have SmartWater on it now gives you a lot better opportunity for police to find that product, whether it's at a pawn shop, scrap metal yard, or anything like that," said Pierson.
Canisters of the liquid are also available for businesses.
Residents interested in protecting their valuable property can purchase SmartWater tracer kits for $30 by contacting the Coral Gables Crime Watch at (305) 460-4153.