In the week when Dyfed Powys Polie’s chief constable has admitted not enough has been done to tackle crime in rural areas, Montgomeryshire MP, Glyn Davies, is supporting an initiative allowing people to report information about crimes anonymously.
The Rural Crime Reporting Line has been launched by the National Farmers Union in conjunction with Crimestoppers. It is in addition to the official police 101 and 999 numbers.
“Rural crime can have devastating impacts, particularly in areas such as Montgomeryshire. It is vital that we are all vigilant in reporting such crimes, and the new Rural Crime Reporting Line will provide an important tool in helping to rid this blight on our countryside,” said Mr Davies.
“I fully support the NFU and Crimestoppers in providing a service for farmers and the public to give information anonymously about these crimes. With relevant information being passed to the police, this service could help to provide key leads in the pursuit of criminals, and will significantly aid efforts to tackle rural crime.”
Mr Davies, a former farmer himself, said rural crime is a serious issue for farmers, rural businesses and those who live in the countryside, and it can have significant impacts on a farm or another rural business.
Launched by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in partnership with the Crimestoppers charity, farmers, rural businesses and the public can ring 0800 783 0137 or visit www.ruralcrimereportingline.uk to anonymously give information about crime relating to:
· large-scale, industrial fly-tipping
· hare coursing
· machinery theft
· livestock theft
To give information on large-scale, industrial fly-tipping, hare coursing, machinery theft or livestock theft, call the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 783 0137 or go to www.ruralcrimereportingline.uk.
Earlier this week, Chief Constable Mark Collins admitted Dyfed Powys Police had not done enough to tackle crime in rural areas.
He said: "I'm going to be completely honest - if I was asked if we were doing enough 12 months ago, it would have been a 'no, no, no'.
"I came back into force as the Chief Constable in December 2016, and in early conversations we realised we had lost the confidence of our rural and isolated communities.
"Crimes weren't being reported, we were getting complaints about a lack of visibility and lack of availability. We weren't getting the intelligence we needed in terms of following up enquiries because crimes weren't being reported."
Mr Collins explained that one of his first priorities was to implement a rural crime strategy, which was launched in November last year.
In the strategy is a commitment to establish four rural crime teams - one in each division - with named contacts for rural and farming communities to raise issues with, report crimes to and inform of any intelligence.
Mr Collins said: "For me, continuity is so important. It's about having the right people with the right training, who want to do this job. That's what we are keen to establish.
"We have a wealth of people who come from the farming community and join the force, and we should use their knowledge and backgrounds.
"We will leave them in those roles and give them enhanced training. It isn't about moving them around - we will be building relationships with the communities, getting them out to markets and events so the communities know who they are."
"Criminals don't commit crimes in Dyfed-Powys Police and stop at Machynlleth. They carry on across the border. We have people stealing in North Wales and selling in Dyfed-Powys - we need to work together to tackle it."
Mr Collins added that working in partnership with other forces is how he sees rural policing working in the future.
"We could, in a couple of years, be sitting here talking about an all-Wales approach," he said.
