Burglars beware: Tallahassee law enforcement is going high-tech.

Florida's capital city has been chosen as the test site in the U.S. for a British product that marks burglars - and their loot - with a clear liquid that glows a bright yellowish green when exposed to a black light. Here's the real technological breakthrough: Each bottle has a unique chemical signature, making it possible to trace sprayed objects and people back to specific crime scenes.

Officers hope the liquid will help cut down on more than 3,000 residential, commercial and auto burglaries that occur each year, but there are concerns about the Police Department promoting a private company and about the technology's impact on civil liberties.

"The thing that sounded good to me was, it's a great prevention tool," said Nancy Daniels, the public defender for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, which includes Leon and surrounding counties. "That's always good for us - we want fewer cases. But the second part of it, which is that it sprays coded water on offenders, sounds a little like Big Brother. The jury's still out."

The Tallahassee Police Department received unanimous approval from the three city commissioners present Wednesday to create a partnership with the developer of the product called SmartWater. That means yours could be one of the 700 homes that the Police Department chooses in the next few weeks to distribute home-owner protection kits.

"What this does is take the opportunity (for theft) away," said Greg Frost, the Tallahassee Police Department's director of executive services.

The liquid comes in two forms, he said: a quasi-permanent solution that residents can use to mark their property - CD players, telephones, televisions - and another solution that sprays burglars and car thieves and stays on their skin and clothing for weeks. The solution is safe, the company says, but Daniels said she'd like to see some health studies backing the claim.

The liquid's inventor will pay for the bottles to be distributed to the 700 homes and for a spray that police will use as traps in homes, businesses and cars. Local police will swab the liquid off stolen property and off suspects and send it to the SmartWater lab in Britain for analysis.

SmartWater Technology Ltd., the technology's inventor, was formed in 1996, Chief Executive Phil Cleary wrote in an e-mail interview. Since then, it has spread throughout Great Britain and will make its U.S. debut in Tallahassee.

Tallahassee police said Cleary first contacted them several months ago to suggest a partnership, saying the city is an ideal test site because it has a low crime rate, is technology-friendly and is a state capital.

Cleary hopes the Tallahassee experiment will help prove that his technology is a viable crime deterrent for the U.S.

"We are . . . aware that the U.S. law-enforcement community will need to be persuaded that the (SmartWater) Strategy is viable in the U.S., hence the (Tallahassee) pilot," he wrote.

But there are concerns.

One is SmartWater's compatibility with U.S. criminal-defense laws, with questions arising as to what probable cause the police would need to have before shining a black light on someone. The use of British labs could also create problems.

"I think a defendant could raise a lot of questions about that - the efficacy of the process," said Barbara Bernier, a professor of constitutional law with Florida A&M University's College of Law.

Cleary said the company would likely partner with an American university for local analytical support if it expands its presence. He said there have been more than 1,000 court convictions linked to SmartWater, but it's primarily a deterrent, with one university study indicating that households with the technology were five times less likely to be burglarized than ones without. In Britain, he added, customers pay between $60 and $4,000 per year - depending on the size of the premises - to use the technology and be logged onto a database.

Another concern is that the high visibility of the SmartWater “strategy” - including media announcements and window decals on the protected homes - will likely move crime from one neighborhood to another.

"Anytime we go into a neighborhood, there's displacement," said Sgt. Mark Meadows, supervisor of the department's burglary unit. "That's just the nature of what we do."

And the Police Department's promotion of a private corporation raised some eyebrows on the City Commission.