Police told to make more use of technology to tackle rural crime

TECHNOLOGY MAY have to be increasingly relied upon to tackle crime in the countryside rather than more police officers on the beat, a committee of Peers has been told.

The cost of rural crime soared by 13 per cent last year to more than £44.5m, according to insurer NFU Mutual.

To address the scourge, David Fursdon, a former president of the Country Land and Business Association, said he wants police forces across the country to become more innovative in how they approach crime in the countryside.

“We need some technological solutions if possible,” said Mr Fursdon, the Lord Lieutenant of Devon, whose county saw the first dedicated police drone launched last year.

Speaking at a House of Lords hearing on the rural economy in London yesterday, Mr Fursdon continued: “We have the resource that we have at the moment, it’s unlikely we are going to get a lot more.

“Everyone wants to see the bobbies out there and a response when you report (a crime) and we have to find a technological way of providing that without having everyone on the ground, if that’s not to happen.

“That requires police forces to somehow work out how best to deal with these things, whether that’s through a central call centre or something where we can provide advice and reassurance to people who are facing these issues.” Earlier this year,

highlighted how serious organised criminals, often from urban areas, are increasingly targeting Yorkshire’s rural heartlands in a week-long special series of reports, and Sarah Lee, head of policy, Countryside Alliance, told yesterday’s hearing that the average financial impact of rural crime on rural businesses was now £5,000 a year.

“When you are talking about small rural businesses, £5,000 in a year is quite a significant impact,” Ms Lee said.

“Coupled with the fear of rural crime and the concept that the police aren’t taking rural crime seriously, because they don’t have the resources, it’s building into that social fear and the feeling that the police are not doing anything for rural communities.”

Ms Lee said the National Rural Crime Network, of which she is a board member, has a role to play in changing people’s perceptions of how seriously the police do take rural crime.

“We need to change that concept, it’s something that police and crime commissioners, chief constables, rural organisations and communities all need to work together on, and have innovative ideas to tackle crime and give reassurance to those local communities.”

Dr Alan Smith, president of the Rural Coalition and the Bishop of St Albans, said fly tipping and thefts of farm vehicles and lead from church roofs were all common incidences of rural crime.

“The problem is, these all need different solutions,” he said, before going on to question how well existing powers are being used to tackle fly tipping.

“Some of the issues we are dealing with, we are not using the powers we have already got,” Dr Smith said.

“Over half of local authorities have not had a successful prosecution (for fly tipping), they are not using the powers.”

Tackling fly tipping is a question of how existing laws and penalties are applied, he said. DALES: