Police target rural crime in Shropshire
Shropshire’s Rural and Business Crime Teams say they have been working tirelessly to tackle rural crime in the county after NFU Mutual said the cost of rural crime is on the rise.
The news follows NFU Mutual yesterday revealing that the cost of rural theft in Shropshire was an estimated £2m, a rise of more than double from the previous year.
West Mercia Police says that in recent months the team in the Shropshire have teamed up with the Serious Acquisitive Crime Team based at Shrewsbury and North Wales Police to carry out an operation targeting organised rural criminals.
Following the operation the team have detected more than 100 crimes, which has led to 12 arrests.
Graham Donaldson, Rural and Business Crime Officer for Shropshire, said: "Policing a rural area such as Shropshire, which is the second largest rural county in the country, offers unique challenges.
"To counter this and the increasing sophistication of organised criminals targeting agricultural plants, livestock, farm vehicles and machinery, we and our partners are being innovative and creative in the way we tackle rural crime to help protect our rural communities and deter criminals.
"Our team in Shropshire works tirelessly to keep our communities safe, and every town, village and hamlet is covered by a safer neighbourhood team with a dedicated safer neighbourhood officer.
"Across the force, each county also has dedicated Rural and Business Crime Officers who work with the local community, listen to their concerns and study crime types and trends in order to best allocate our resources to and to keep people safe. These officers provide invaluable reassurance and have a wealth of knowledge and experience around rural crime.
"We encourage people to report crimes to the police. Offences are often committed by criminals travelling into the area, often as part of larger organised networks and we continue to work with policing colleagues and enforcement agencies across the UK. This approach has led to many successful prosecutions.
"It is vital we are aware of what is happening right across Shropshire so we can continue to take action. Many areas have direct lines of communication with our rural officers which also act as invaluable streams of intelligence which we are then able to act upon.
"While we are working hard to deter criminality and anti-social behaviour in our rural communities through more visible and proactive patrols, we are also committed to investigating and arresting those responsible for breaking the law and bringing these people to justice.
"One of our other key priorities is getting out and about meeting local residents, and throughout the summer months we look forward to attending the many county and agricultural shows and would encourage anyone who goes along to come and have a chat with us."
