Protecting
Your Motorcycle With DNA
25 October 2006
Motorcycle owners
are being steered away from becoming victims of crime by Cleveland Police.
This Sunday
(29th October) DVLA officials, together with the police, are setting
up a mobile registration unit and are urging bike owners to register
their vehicles on a free database.
It will allow
bike users to have frame and engine numbers logged on both Police and
DVLA computers so that the rightful owner can be traced if a stolen
bike is recovered.
As an addition
security measures will be on half price sale - 100 motorcycle security
chains and alarms will be on offer for £20 thanks to sponsorship
from Stockton Crime Prevention Panel, SmartWater marking kits will be
on sale to the first 50 people who attend for £10.
A staggering
number of machines such as trials, motocross, enduro and quad bikes
are stolen every year and because they are not registered on the DVLA
computer they are more difficult to trace.
Crime Prevention
Officer Phil Taylor said: ”I am discounting the alarms and SmartWater
in a determined effort to drive down motorcycle theft. This offer will
not be repeated so please take advantage of our generosity.
” At present
we are receiving in excess of 2,000 complaints a year of nuisance caused
by off road bikers riding illegally on open ground throughout the county.
“In most
cases these bikes are obviously stolen but proving they belong to a
particular person can be almost impossible.
“By responsible
owners registering the details with the DVLA and possibly marking them
with SmartWater we will be able to trace the real owner and get some
of these machines off the estates and back where they belong.”
He added: ”Encouraging
owners to register their bikes with the police and DVLA is seen as a
trailblazing initiative to break the cycle of thefts and nuisance. We
would urge all owners to sign up to this and help us cut crime.”
Smartwater is
a substance with it’s own chemical DNA. Once officers recover a
vehicle, all they need is a pinhead sample of the Smart Water to trace
the true owner. Under normal lighting conditions it cannot be seen,
under the glare of special UV lamps it fluoresces a dye bright yellow/green
in colour which cannot be washed off or removed.
