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

  • Marston buys video data platform provider Videalert
    April 3, 2019
    Video data platform provider Videalert has been bought by Marston Holdings, the UK-based transportation and enforcement services group. The announcement, made at Traffex this week, comes as Videalert extends its existing work for Bath & North East Somerset Council with more CCTV enforcement for the city of Bath’s clean air zone. Videalert’s technology is used to identify parking and moving traffic offences, supporting traffic management, police ANPR programmes – and, increasingly, clean air and low emissi
    Read More
  • Data exploits parking potential
    March 11, 2015
    David Crawford parallel parks with innovations in two continents. Surveys of US cities indicate that drivers searching for parking can account for up to 37% of all urban traffic congestion. A 2011 study by IBM of 20 cities around the world found that nearly six out of ten drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once; while motorists generally spent on average 20 minutes looking for a sought-after spot.
    Read More
  • Georgia implements school bus safety cameras
    January 24, 2014
    Several school buses in Clarke County School District, Georgia have been fitted with camera systems that will provide visual evidence of motorists who violate the flashing red lights and stop arms of school buses as children embark and disembark. The school bus stop-arm system utilises a series of six camera mounted on the bus to catch violators from several angles. When the stop arm is deployed, the cameras detect vehicles illegally passing in either direction and captures video of the violation and sti
    Read More
  • European ITS Directive: From Minority Report to majority rapport
    December 1, 2023
    A 21-year old movie by Steven Spielberg appears to predict a C-ITS Day 3 use case. Richard Lax of Kapsch TrafficCom looks at the new European ITS Directive and idly wonders whether the great Hollywood movie director was once a European Commission intern in DG Move…
    Read More

Highlighted Content