Lasers & Sources

UV-fluorescent SmartWater foils criminals, protects property

Aug. 13, 2013

Fort Lauderdale, FL--An ABC World News primetime story on SmartWater describes how the UV-fluorescent coded paint can be used to stop criminals and protect personal assets.

Gail Overton

UV-fluorescent “paint” called SmartWater can be sprayed on personal assets or on thieves themselves to identify robbery suspects and stolen property. To view video, see http://youtu.be/MqsPxdtxE8Y.

Fort Lauderdale, FL--An ABC World News primetime story on SmartWater describes how the ultraviolet (UV)-fluorescent coded paint can be used to identify criminals and protect personal assets in forensic investigations. In the news story (see http://youtu.be/MqsPxdtxE8Y), a decoy car is used to attract a criminal who is then "sprayed" by the colorless, odorless paint (apparently, store keepers are using the spray as a booby trap to mark possible robbers) and convicted in court as the paint glows brightly under a black light, linking the suspect to the crime.

The patented, proprietary water-like fluorescent spray is apparently coded (not with DNA, which can be damaged by sunlight) with metallic particles (nanoparticles?)—according to at least one Internet site—that leave a unique fingerprint that can be analyzed to trace recovered valuables painted with SmartWater.

According to the SmartWater website at http://www.smartwater.com, "SmartWater is ISO09001 quality management and ISO27001 information and security management accredited. It is also accredited to the highest standard (Grade A) of the BSI PAS 820:2012 classification certifying that its forensic coding lasts for a minimum of 5 years."

SmartWater is nonhazardous and each bottle contains the owner's unique forensic formula (PIN) which is logged into a secure database so recovered property can be traced.

SOURCE: SmartWater; http://smartwatercsi.com/abc-world-news-crime-fighting-chemical-spray-catches-thieves-off-guard/

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.