Fight against rural crime is a two way street

Rural crime costs private landowners, rural businesses and individual householders millions of pounds a year and poses a real threat to the stability of the rural economy – but the fight against rural crime is a two-way street which requires action from the rural population as well as the police.

That’s the message the South West director of the Country Land and Business Association, John Mortimer, delivered to Avon and Somerset Chief Constable, Nick Gargen and the Police and Crime Commissioner,Sue Mountstevens, at the Royal Bath and West Show today (Thursday 30 May).

“Beating rural crime will involve farmers and landowners taking some ownership of the problem, ensuring that they have taken every possible precaution to make the criminals’ lives difficult – marking their property, fitting trackers and taking specialist security advice. But it also means the police responding in an appropriate and speedy manner. It means police improving their understanding of the impact of rural crimes and communicating much better with the victims of crime,” he said.

Top of the rural crime list – which is estimated to cost farmers and landowners more than £50 million a year – is the theft of machinery, such as quad bikes and other transportable equipment. Mr Mortimer says that owners can have a real impact on this by reviewing their security arrangements, fitting better locks and ensuring that their machines have trackers fitted. Sheep and cattle rustling, fly tipping, hare coursing and poaching and metal theft all feature on the rural crime hit list and Mr Mortimer says that the CLA in the South West is working closely with all police forces to improve best practice on both sides of the street.

“We recently held a series of very successful Rural Crime conferences in conjunction with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary and one of the key points to come out of that was the need for better communication from both sides. It is essential that farmers, landowners and people in rural communities report all crimes and suspicious activity and, as the Chief Constable told us, the most difficult crime to solve is the one that hasn’t been reported. Politicians and the police cannot get a clear picture of the reality of rural crime if people do not report it.

“Although crime in general is falling, rural crime is on the increase – even though we know that it is being under-reported. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy but if we want to get rid of the scourge of rural crime then we have to meet it head on and have confidence in the police to deal with it.”

Mr Mortimer told the Chief Constable that the CLA welcomed the move to organise closer co-operation between the region’s forces at a strategic level in regard to such things as armed response units, but stressed that it was also important the police forces cooperated with each in order to bring criminals operating in our rural communities to justice.