EoW May 2012

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EuroWire – May 2012 9
News
Corporate
A revolutionary, portable alarm
system that can film thieves and link
them to crimes using DNA technology
in remote locations has been hailed by
police as a major step towards helping to
combat a massive rise in metals theft.
The Alarmed and Traceable Technology
Solutions System (AATTS), developed by
Kilmarnock, Scotland-based PID Systems,
is the first purpose-built alarm system
for protecting vulnerable properties
and locations to be approved and
recommended by the Association of Chief
Police Officers (ACPO).
The system is wireless and so doesn’t
need to be connected to a mains supply
and it can be installed quickly and easily.
As well as sounding when an intruder is
detected, it sends a signal to the owner
of the building, to PID Systems and it also
captures any attempted theft on video.
The vandal-resistant device is used in
conjunction with an indelible red ultraviolet
(UV) dye, which can only be seen under
UV light. It coats intruders with a unique,
encrypted molecular marking agent that
can be linked back to the crime scene.
Jacqui Shiel, development manager for
ACPO’s Secured by Design initiative, said:
“Metal theft is a growing problem which
can be very expensive to address, both in
the cost of replacing materials taken and
in effecting repairs. Early notification of
a potential problem is very important in
preventing this disruption and identifying
those responsible.
“PID Systems’ AATTS is an effective
weapon in the fight against metal theft
because it can be deployed quickly
and easily in a wide variety of internal
and external locations. It uses the latest
technology to provide an adaptable early
warning and detection system.
“Secured by Design focuses on the
prevention of crime within homes
and commercial premises. This police
initiative also licenses products that meet
current security standards or products
of a specialist nature that have been
independently evaluated.”
There has been a massive rise in metals
theft, prompted by a hike in global
cost. The price of copper rose from
£889-a-tonne in November 2001, to a
high of £6,356-a-tonne, recorded last year.
According to HM Revenue and Customs,
an estimated 10,000 incidents of metal
theft every year costs the UK economy
more than £5.6billion in lost revenue.
Among those hardest hit by copper theft
is Network Rail, which saw the number of
railway cable thefts rise by 65 per cent,
leading to 16,000 lost working hours,
between 2009 and 2010, and BT which
has seen a 12 per cent rise in cable thefts
in the past year.
Graham Jones, the MP for Hyndburn,
has introduced a private Metal Theft
Prevention Bill in the House of Commons
that seeks to tighten regulation, including
a robust licensing scheme for scrapyards.
Separate legislation is to be introduced in
Scotland.
PID Systems – UK
Website:
▲ ▲ Remote technology is a major step forward in beating metal theft
DNA
technology
in bid to
beat the
thieves
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