Justin, Davenport. "Burglars brought to heel by police's shoeprint scanner." Evening Standard 07 Apr.

2015:
6. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
Section:
News
DOZENS of burglars have been caught in London thanks to a revolutionary police scanner that matches the
shoeprints of suspects to marks left at crime scenes.
The machine the first of its kind in Europe can scan and record the prints of a suspect's shoes in only two
minutes, compared to a paper-based system that takes two or three weeks.
A pilot scheme in Colindale has led to the arrest of 76 burglars in 12 months. Now a 300,000 grant will allow the
project to be rolled out across the capital before being extended around the country. As well as having fingerprints
and DNA samples taken, suspects are asked to stand on a plate so their shoes can be scanned.
Met Commander Simon Letchford said: "Suspects walk across a panel, which is a bit like a photocopier, and it
immediately uploads an image to the national database."
Once on the system, it can be compared to hundreds of thousands of marks obtained from crime scenes. Forensic
teams can run a check while the suspect remains in custody, and produce a report for detectives within an hour. The
pilot scheme led to police taking shoemarks from 70 per cent of suspects, compared with only three per cent before.
"The scanner may not always be able to solve crimes on its own but it is extremely useful in building a case against
an individual," said Mr Letchford. Detective Inspector Julie Henderson, who is in charge of the pilot scheme, said the
national database held 50,000 different types of shoes.
In one recent case, a man arrested for a minor offence was linked to seven different burglaries through his unusual
footwear.
Police say they can now lift shoeprints from many surfaces, including carpets and linoleum. Experts can even tell a
shoe's colour and markings from the pattern of its tread.
The number of burglaries in London has fallen by 14 per cent in the past year, to the lowest level since the Seventies.
@_jdavenport
~~~~~~~~
By Justin Davenport