‘We must all come together to confront rural crime head on’ – Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner Donna Jones

New figures from NFU Mutual published last month revealed that the cost of rural crime was an estimated £49.5m in 2022 with the cost of rural theft rising by 22 per cent as organised crime gangs plague rural communities.The 2022 Countryside Alliance rural survey also found that 97 per cent of those surveyed said rural crime was a “significant” issue in their community and the most common crimes experienced by those polled were fly-tipping, agricultural machinery theft and trespassing.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures show there were 525 fly-tipping incidents in Portsmouth in the year to March 2022 – though this was down from 724 the year before.

There were 1,147 fly-tipping incidents across the Havant local authority area in the year to March 2022, which cost councils £6,403 to remove.

Across England, 1.09 million fly-tipping incidents were recorded in 2021-22– a decrease of 4% from the 1.14 million reported in the pandemic-scarred 2020-21. The cost of clearance to local authorities was £10.7 million in 2021/22.

PCC Jones said: “We must all come together to confront rural crime head on, and keep saying to these criminals repeatedly that we won’t tolerate your takeover of our countryside and rural way of life any longer.

“Rural communities are more frequently becoming victims of serious and organised crime that’s costing farmers and landowners millions of pounds every year.”

Earlier this month, The News reported PCC Jones’ plan to reopen 10 more police stations in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight, including ones in Portsmouth, Cosham, Gosport and Park Gate.“My pledges to reopen ten more police stations to the public and bring back named local Bobbies to every community along with the successful recruitment of 650 extra police officers, mean that rural communities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will benefit from increased police visibility,” she said. “But there is always more to be done.“Since being elected as Police Commissioner, I have prioritised rural crime and I’m doing everything I can to make sure policing needs are met swiftly, and that investment is constantly being made to counteract this growing curse on our countryside.”The first round of the Commissioner’s Emerging Needs Fund focused on rural crime, and last month it was announced that funding totally nearly £84,000 has been awarded to ten successful applications that tackle rural crime or tackle crime in rural communities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

They include re-deployable Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras to target rural crime hotspots, thermal imaging equipment for Police Dog Units, and a recruitment drive for more volunteers to join Mounted Rural Patrol.PCC Jones added: “These organised crime gangs are costing communities a staggering amount of money and stripping farmers and landowners of their livelihoods.“These criminals cannot be allowed to continue wreaking havoc, and we must come together to restore peace to our countryside communities.”The Commissioner has also funded additional CCTV cameras and drones to support the Country Watch team, enabling the force to further expand its use of drones.In addition, more than 1,200 people responded to her Rural Crime Survey launched earlier this year, allowing more intelligence to further shape rural policing needs.