ZERO Burglaries At £25 Million Wirral 'Super School'

SIX months after the opening of a new ‘super’ secondary school on Wirral that marked all of its high-value ICT equipment with SelectaDNA there have been ZERO thefts or break-ins reported.

The new-build £25 million Woodchurch High School in Carr Bridge Road, Wirral, is a large co-educational comprehensive secondary school with approximately 1,300 pupils, 100 teaching staff and 120 support staff. School facilities are also available to members of the public for evening classes.

Before the school opened its gates for the first time in September 2010, the on-site facilities management team marked all of the school’s state-of-the art ICT equipment including PCs, laptops and other electronic equipment using SelectaDNA, the latest in forensic property marking solutions.
Ian Lowrie from Wirral Council’s Community Safety Team said: “We were looking for a product that would not only stop theft happening – but prevent burglars even attempting theft in the first place.”

Wirral Council’s Community Safety Team works hard to prevent burglary in Wirral schools and liaises closely with Wirral Children and Young People’s Department, which provides the funding. More than 60 schools on Wirral are currently using SelectaDNA to protect valuable equipment.

SelectaDNA, produced by Selectamark, is an advanced forensic property marking system which links burglars to crime scenes and provides an unbreakable chain of evidence in a court of law.

SelectaDNA comes in a kit containing a bottle of DNA solution that can be easily applied to any items of value such as computers, laptops and overhead projectors. The solution doesn't damage the marked property in any way.

The unique DNA code in the solution links each item to the individual school. This means that if an item is stolen and later found by police it can be traced directly back to the school, not only allowing the property to be returned, but increasing the chance of the thief being arrested.

Pete May, a member of the facilities management team at Woodchurch High School said: “We are very pleased to be able to say that there have been no incidents of theft or burglaries on site since the school opened.
“All our ICT equipment is marked with SelectaDNA and we continue to use the warning stickers that are supplied with each kit on every piece of equipment we mark. We believe this is acting as a very effective deterrent against burglary.”

Woodchurch High School is just one of many schools throughout the UK using forensic marking to deter theft. All 300 schools in the Oxfordshire area are currently being protected by SelectaDNA, as well as all schools in the London Borough of Havering, and more than 170 schools in Dorset.