Applied DNA Sciences installs first pharmacy security system
Phil Taylor, 17-Feb-2012
Applied DNA Sciences has
installed its smartDNA anti-intruder mist system at a pharmacy in
Long Island, USA, in response to a spate of pharmacy robberies
there in recent months.
If a robbery takes place, the criminals care coated with a
fluorescing dye mist tagged with plant DNA that can be used to link
individuals and goods to the crime scene. A demonstration of the
system was carried out yesterday at a ceremony attended by Kemp
Hannon, the chairman of the New York State Senate Standing
Committee on Health.
Pharmacies are increasingly being targeted across the US by armed
robbers, with 688 cases involving controlled substances reported in
2010, a 79 per cent increase on 2006, according to data from the
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). In many cases the
thieves target prescription painkillers such as oxycodone.
Last year, two robberies in Long Island pharmacies resulted in six
deaths, including two pharmacists, a clerk, a federal agent and two
members of the public.
Senator Hannon said: “This new state-of-the-art technology will
provide yet another tool to aid in the prevention of crimes, and
will assist law enforcement in the apprehension and convictions of
those who perpetrate them."
Hannon's office recently published a white paper on pharmacy theft
in New York State, which can be downloaded here.
The smartDNA system is already installed in banks in Long Island as
well as in Europe to protect jewellery stores. The UK makes use of
the plant DNA underpinning the system to protect a quarter of the
cash being moved to and from banks.
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