Minister for Policing, Sarah Jones, is making the announcement at the National Rural Crime Network Conference in York today.
She is expected to say: “Rural crime devastates local communities yet often goes unseen. That’s why we’re boosting neighbourhood policing, continuing to invest in specialist units and giving officers better tools to pursue offenders and give rural communities the protection they deserve.
“By strengthening our partnerships with farmers, landowners and community groups, we can build a safer countryside – one where criminals know they will be caught, and every resident feels heard.”
“We are already starting to see the benefits of intelligence sharing and increased collaboration with stakeholders and police forces to make the countryside a safer place.”
NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt
NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt, who is also speaking at the Conference on the human impact of rural crime, welcomed the news, adding that it would “help increase co-ordinated efforts across law enforcement, politicians, the farming community and insurers so that we can put a stop to these heinous criminals”.
‘Positive step’
The National Rural Crime Network is bringing together leaders from across government, policing, academic and frontline support services for its Conference. It will see North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Tim Forber speak on policing challenges and innovation, the first time a Chief Constable has spoken at the event. The NRCN (National Rural Crime Network) has said this reflects a growing national recognition of rural crime as a serious and urgent issue.
NFU Vice-president Robyn Munt added: “Highly organised gangs of criminals continue to plague the British countryside with illegal hunting and poaching and stealing livestock, valuable farm machinery and expensive GPS equipment. This disruption causes huge issues to day-to-day farming activities, from the financial implications to the emotional impacts and effect on farmers’ mental health.
“The creation of the National Rural Crime Unit has been a positive step, and we are already starting to see the benefits of intelligence sharing and increased collaboration with stakeholders and police forces to make the countryside a safer place.”
NFU Mutual Chief Executive Nick Turner said: “As a major funder of the National Rural Crime Unit, we welcome the government’s commitment to provide further support for that unit and strengthen their response to criminality in the countryside.
“We know the disruption rural crime causes to day-to-day farming activities, from the financial implications to the negative impact on mental health, which is why we have invested nearly £2 million over the past five years to help tackle rural crime.”
Call for extra security measures for farm kit
Last year, the government published its response to the Home Office’s Call for Evidence to provide secondary legislation that would extend the scope of the Equipment Theft Act.
In its response, the government has said it will introduce regulations to Parliament which will require all new ATVs and GPS units to have forensic markings and for the details to be registered on a property database.
However, it confirmed this secondary legislation will not cover fitting immobilisers to new ATVs and will not extend to other large agricultural machinery.
Robyn said the NFU is urging the government to reconsider its decision not to proceed with these important parts of the Equipment Theft Act: “Sections, particularly fitting immobilisers to quad bikes and extra security measures for GPS systems, can be vital tools to help the police deal with the organised criminals targeting farm businesses,” she added.
