Police forces set to get new strategy to beat rural crime

Chief constables representing police forces from across the country met in York last month where they were urged not to let farms and rural communities become a “soft target” for criminals by the president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

Minette Batters, speaking to The Yorkshire Post as part of our week-long series of special reports into the scourge of rural crime, said the meeting had been a positive experience.

“When I came up to York and spoke to the police chiefs council they signed off their rural crime strategy with the full support of every force across the country,” the union leader said.

Following that meeting, the National Police Chiefs Council has now revealed that their new blueprint to help police forces defeat rural criminality will be launched in the coming months.

A spokesperson for the National Police Chiefs Council said: “Police forces are entirely committed to cracking down on the scourge of rural crime.

“Having consulted closely with rural communities across the country, we have developed a new Rural Affairs Strategy which will be launched later on this year.

“This strategy will cover many of the crimes which blight rural communities and help forces to provide an effective response.”

The NFU has called for every police force to have its own dedicated rural police team in place to ensure that the countryside is properly policed.

But it also wants the Government to intervene as part of the clampdown and the union has reiterated its call for a cross government taskforce to be established to co-ordinate a consistent approach to rural crime.

When that prospect was first put to Whitehall officials last summer, the Home Office intimated it was the role of local Police and Crime Commissioners to see rural crime prioritised.

“The election of Police and Crime Commissioners has given communities - including those in rural areas - a strong voice in determining how police resources are allocated to tackle the crimes that matter most to them,” a spokesperson said.

The Home Office added that lasting success in tackling rural crime “will lie in the response of local services and communities to the problems they face”.

Since a government taskforce was first mooted by the NFU last year, Ms Batters, said that although the measure had not been adopted, the farming industry was having some success in making its voice heard on rural crime.

“I think we are making progress,” she said.

“The Home Office is certainly engaging with us far more and bringing together more roundtable discussions which are helping a lot.”