Co-op marking commonly-stolen items with forensic spray to track reselling

Co-op is secretly marking commonly stolen items including alcohol and laundry detergents with invisible “forensic spray” to track them, in the latest crackdown on shoplifting as a new law on retail crime kicks in. The supermarket aims to use the technique across the country having tested it in Manchester and London since last year. The spray, whichhelps the Co-op identify where stolen items are being resold and report it to the police, contains a unique forensic code for a particular location where the items were sold, which also include sweets. Police can then identify which Co-op store the items originated from when investigating physical shops or online stores suspected of reselling stolen goods. Police forces have used similar tactics to track down stolen bikes and valuables, and protect domestic abuse victims . The technique is part of a raft of measures which the Co-op said had helped it cut crime in its stores by a fifth last year. It said physical attacks on its staff fell by almost a third year-on-year. Paul Gerrard, policy director at the Co-op, said: “We have made it harder to steal things and now we are making it harder to sell.” He said the group had invested about £250m in security measures including body-worn cameras for staff, more security guards, reinforced kiosks for high-value products such as spirits and tobacco and special shelving kit which prevents large amounts of goods being swept off into a bag. …