Large-scale operations show rural crime must be taken seriously
IT is easy to consider rural crime as being small scale and opportunistic – minor acts of vandalism, fly-tipping or theft committed by individuals taking advantage of a lack of policing in the countryside, where barns, equipment, fields and livestock may be left unattended.
Unlike high streets and business parks, there is little or no CCTV for offenders to worry about, fewer people around to notice wrongdoing, and police are a long drive from the scene.
Farmers and rural communities seemingly make for a relatively easy target among lawbreakers, and the wider perception can be that rural crimes are something of a troublesome nuisance which don’t require taking as seriously as inner-city offending.
Yet the impact of crime on lives and livelihoods in rural communities is just as profound – and a picture-postcard image of the countryside masks realities. Those who fall victim may be left feeling vulnerable, isolated, forgotten, believing the problems they experience remain out of sight, out of mind among policy-makers with an over-riding urban focus.
In addition, the criminals may be far from opportunistic individuals. Instead, they may be acting as part of organised gangs involved in such operations as theft to order.
This is laid bare by Plymouth MP and Shadow Environment Secretary Luke Pollard, who illustrates the organised nature of some rural crime with concerns regarding the illegal sport of hare coursing, as reported on Page 2.
The notion of a few people with dogs turning up at a remote spot to chance their luck is far removed from the scale of operations, he says, revealing that the events can be webcast live to betting syndicates in China.
“It’s incredibly profitable work, and there is big money involved with hare coursing,” he says. “We’re not talking about some people organising an illicit activity in a barn somewhere; we’re talking about highly organised criminals preying on rural communities.”
It is disturbing to learn of the international connections involved and that large amounts of money can be at stake.
The same also applies to stolen tractors shipped overseas, and last year the NFU warned of widespread thefts of GPS field positioning systems from combine harvesters, costing farmers large sums of money to replace.
Figures from NFU Mutual show that the cost of rural crime is in the tens of millions annually and spiralling, with sharp rises in the theft of agricultural vehicles and livestock over the last couple of years.
The Countryside Alliance’s chief executive, Tim Bonner, says the theft of a tractor is “just as relevant as someone’s factory being trashed in a town. These are often serious, organised criminals and they are prepared to commit violent acts”.
Rising levels of crime in the countryside and revelations of international, organised, gang connections show how serious the problem has become and how seriously it must be taken.