PCSOs in a West Yorkshire district have been authorised to use a forensic spray in a UK first.
Funded by the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), the pressurised canisters are used to mark people or property, assisting the police in identifying items or suspects involved in criminality.
The spray which was initially used to mark people’s property is now being used to deter and detect incidents involving off-road bikes, street drinking, shoplifting and domestic abuse across the Wakefield District.
Since the force started using the innovative spray – they have seen a significant reduction in calls to service and seen a positive impact across the city.
Inspector Paul Fraser, of Wakefield Central Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT), said: “We have seen a 60 per cent reduction in calls for service for street drinking since using the forensic solution to mark cans.
“Calls relating to shoplifting offences also went down by 44 per cent in the three months in Wakefield city centre."
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