Wiltshire Police back NPCC week of action against rural crime

This week Wiltshire Police are supporting the National Police Chief's Council's week of action against rural crime.

Wiltshire is a predominantly rural county and our residents who live in isolated locations can be impacted by a number of crimes that do not affect urban areas in the same way. These include poaching, livestock worrying, machinery theft and heritage crime.

We will be shining a spotlight on a number of these crime types this week on social media, providing crime prevention advice and encouraging residents to report all incidents to the police. Our Community Policing Teams and the Rural Crime Team will also be out and about during the week engaging with our rural communities.

Police and Crime Commissioner Mr Angus Macpherson said: "Being such a rural county means all of our Community Policing Teams regularly deal with rural crime types as they would any other crime type.

"We currently have 23 officers within our community policing teams that are trained as Wildlife and Heritage Crime Officers. They can offer expert advice and guidance to their colleagues about effectively dealing with the more niche rural crime types.  This training was funded by my office and there are plans to train a second cohort later in the year.

"It is encouraging to see Wiltshire Police continually looking for new ways to support our communities and disrupt criminals targeting these isolated communities. For example I recently funded some 'Police stop me' stickers as part of a new initiative to help combat farm machinery theft in the county. This is just one of the many ways Wiltshire Police's Rural Crime Team are helping to tackle rural crime in the county."

Rural Crime Inspector Liz Coles: "Our Community Policing Teams across the county, supported by our dedicated Rural Crime Team are committed to tackling crime in rural areas so that our residents can feel safe.

"Part of this is working with our communities to help reduce their risks of becoming a victim of crime. This week we will be highlighting some of the simple ways the public can help protect themselves, their properties and businesses.

"We are also making sure we get the message out there that it is vital all incidents, however small, are reported to the police. If incidents aren't reported to the police we can't have a clear picture of the true scale of the problem and allocate resources appropriately.

"We are asking the public to act as our eyes and ears and report anything suspicious to us on 101 or if a crime is in progress by calling 999."

Keep an eye on our Wiltshire Rural Crime Team Facebook and Twitter during the week of action and show your support by sharing our posts with your friends.