BusinessWeek recently reported on the growing trend of using fog machines to deter criminals. Stores fill up with fog when the alarm is triggered making it much more difficult for the criminal to steal anything. I read this in the magazine and only found one reference to it online from which I have quoted below.
KeepMedia | BusinessWeek: If They Can’t See, They Can’t Steal:
Stores are starting to smoke out burglars — literally. Looking for security systems beyond alarms and unsightly iron roll-up gates, some retailers are trying a newer deterrent: a fog machine. Once the system, installed in a corner or on a wall or ceiling, is triggered by someone breaking and entering, it takes just a minute to create a dense, nontoxic fog that obscures visibility. Burglars can panic, groping their way out of the store without stealing anything. That’s what happened during a recent break-in at a CVS in Florida, one of a handful of outlets at which the drugstore chain is testing the device.