SmartWater deployed to deter thefts from parking machines

The Isle of Wight Council (IWC) in the UK has deployed crime-busting SmartWater traps, following a spate of thefts and vandalism from its 140 ageing Parkeon DG-Series Pay & Display (P&D) machines in the last year.
February 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins

The 2047 Isle of Wight Council (IWC) in the UK has deployed crime-busting SmartWater traps, following a spate of thefts and vandalism from its 140 ageing 251 Parkeon DG-Series Pay & Display (P&D) machines in the last year.

Developed by UK-company 245 SmartWater Technology, the traps spray a uniquely coded substance on anyone who illegally tampers with the machines. The harmless substance remains on the person for months and shows up under UV light, thereby matching the suspect to the crime scene. 

A sticker on each machine warns any would-be thief or vandal that SmartWater has been deployed by the Council, which is the first local authority in the UK to protect P&D terminals using the technology.

"Hopefully, the sticker itself will deter thefts but if someone does, nevertheless, attempt to remove the parking meter or get into the cash box, they should be prepared to be sprayed with SmartWater," said Cllr Barry Abraham, IWC cabinet member with responsibility for community safety.

The traps have been deployed in an initiative involving agencies from the IW Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP), including the Council and police, along with SmartWater and Parkeon.  Both companies spent time on research and development to create a bespoke trap for the Island’s P&D machines.

“The DG-Series machines were widely recognised as the most secure on the market when they were installed in 1995.  However, our latest machines are even more secure, thanks to the efforts of Parkeon’s dedicated, full-time security team”, explained Bob Barnes, Parkeon’s UK Parking Director in welcoming this initiative.  “We are constantly re-evaluating the challenges that we face from the criminal fraternity and our objective is to be ahead of it at all times.”

Chief Inspector Mark Bell from Hampshire Constabulary stated, "SmartWater can forensically link the culprit to the offence and we welcome the use of the technology to prevent crimes and to help the police to catch and convict any further offenders."

Parking & Access Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Managing congestion, better information changes perceptions
    January 31, 2012
    Kapsch's Dietrich Leihs talks about the true fundamentals of urban pricing. In some Italian and German towns and cities, the solution to congestion is an outright ban on certain types of vehicles. As far as Dietrich Leihs is concerned, any attempt to sweeten the pill that is congestion charging is only ever going to be a partial success at best.
    Read More
  • Vision technology: the future in focus
    November 23, 2018
    Just a few years ago, terms such as ‘embedded’ and ‘polarisation’ were buzzwords. But now they are real and present examples of vision technology in action – and, Adam Hill finds, the ITS industry is waking up to a number of possible applications Every aspect of the intelligent transportation systems industry moves quickly – but developments in camera technology change with a rapidity which can appear quite bewildering. And with ITS providers constantly searching for an edge against fierce competitio
    Read More
  • Xerox automates HOV/HOT enforcement
    May 27, 2014
    Counting the number of people in a vehicle has always been a manual task, but now Xerox has developed a real-time system to automate the process. Xerox has introduced an automated system that determines the number of passengers in a vehicle, enabling authorities to detect non-qualifying drivers using the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. Traditionally HOV/HOT enforcement has entailed local police visually confirming each vehicle has the required number of occupants and chasin
    Read More
  • Reporting on the direction of the US's ITS research effort
    January 19, 2012
    The US ITS Joint Program Office has been working with industry stakeholders to help define the form of future research projects. Here, the Office's James Pol discusses progress and future goals
    Read More

Highlighted Content