Rural crime takes spotlight during national awareness week
Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, shows support for tackling crime in rural communities during Wildlife and Rural Crime Week. The week will focus of various types of rural crime that can be committed.
The National Rural Crime Network created the week of action believing that rural communities are often neglected in comparison to their rural counterparts. The aim of the campaign is to highlight the criminal issues that affect rural communities while highlighting the work Police forces across the country are doing to tackle these crimes.
Rural crime covers a variety of crimes ranging from sheep worrying, domestic abuse and agricultural and vehicle thefts.
To help protect rural victims, Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, has funded an initiative called Keep Safe. The project focuses on crime prevention, cyber-crime and rural crime. The PCSOs will be able to help rural communities with crime prevention advice to help protect themselves and their assets.
Cumbria Constabulary are also hosting a crime-busting event for farmers across Cumbria on Tuesday 8 October at Harrison & Hetherington at Rosehill, Carlisle from 10am – 3pm. The event will provide attendees with tips on how to secure their personal and business property to deter thieves and encourage farmers to sign up to a security and registration scheme to help prevent equipment theft. Farmers will also be offered the chance to join a datatag scheme to mark tractors, quads and motorcycles, for a small fee, which makes stolen vehicles easier to track and identify.
A Wildlife Crime day will also be held at Watchtree Nature Reserve, Wiggonby on Wednesday 9 October from 10am to 3pm. The Police will be giving advice to dog walkers on wildlife crime, what to look out for and what to report if the public see anything suspicious. The hope of the event is to boost vigilance amongst the public so that anyone can easily spot the signs of illegal activity and report it on.
The Constabulary will be back at Harrison & Hetherington at Rosehill, Carlisle on Friday 11th October for the last Crime Prevention event of the week. This event will focus on Sheep marking with Tectracer, making it easier for farmers and police to identify stolen sheep and return them to the owner.
Speaking on rural crime, Peter McCall said: “Cumbria is a mostly rural county and we want to ensure that the smaller, more isolated communities in the county do not feel forgotten by the police.
“Although it isn’t obvious, a lot the rural crime that takes place is actually organized gang crime.
“We, as a community, need to work together to help prevent crime from taking place all across Cumbria.
“Only by working together are we going to stamp out crime and make Cumbria an even safer place to live.
“If you see anything suspicious please report it to the police on 101 or anonymously to crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Superintendent Carl Patrick said: “This will be an excellent opportunity for people to come and meet their local officers to get advice and information regarding any issues or concerns that they may have around rural crime.
“Targeting rural crime and keeping people safe are priorities for the neighbourhood policing teams in Cumbria.
“This event and the others we are holding this week are a great opportunity for the public to take steps to prevent themselves from being a victim of crime, these are small steps such as marking your quadbike or signing up to a scheme.”
