New Forensic Spray Helps Keep Individuals Safe From Domestic Violence
SmartWater CSI is a traceable liquid nanotechnology that is invisible to the naked eye but shows up as yellow-green under ultraviolet light.
The forensic spray, which contains a unique signature for each user, is now helping courts gather the evidence necessary to crack down on guilty criminals.
The liquid can be sprayed on skin, clothing and household doorknobs, where it will remain for up to six weeks.
In July 2021, the spray was used as evidence that helped convict a criminal from Virginia charged with burglary on April 11, 2021.
Police were able to use ultraviolet light to see that his clothing was covered with smears of colorless and odorless liquid he had come into contact with when entering the business.
The sheriff’s office that operates the Chesterfield County Jail even installed a SmartWater detection camera in a vestibule where prisoners are screened before being booked on charges.
The spray is also helping bring justice to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, with over 200 women in the United Kingdom recently given packages of the spray for use in their homes. The packages included a hand-held canister for spraying, a gel for door handles and gates, as well as an automatic trap that sprays the liquid if someone approaches the house.
A man who was sprayed with SmartWater CSI was recently convicted and jailed for domestic abuse in the UK, which marks the first time the substance was used to jail a domestic abuser.
Current research from the company that developed the product shows it helped reduce rates of domestic burglary by 25%, with 5,000 fewer burglary victims as a result.
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