A PIONEERING scheme to catch thieves fast marked up its first spectacular success in Huddersfield.
A house in the town was burgled on Monday night.
Within hours police had taken fingerprints from the home, identified them at the force's fingerprint bureau and gone out to arrest an 18-year-old man who was charged with burglary.
He appeared before Huddersfield magistrates on Wednesday and was remanded in custody.
Det Supt Mick Fickling, head of West Yorkshire Police's Scientific Support unit, said the scheme is called Operation Converter.
Its aim is to get vital evidence to frontline officers quickly.
He added: "This is the delivery of scientific identifications in the form of fingerprints and DNA to operational officers. It enables early arrests to be made.
"Although the scheme is still in its early stages, results in terms of crime detection are already up by 25% on the corresponding month for last year."
