A police team dedicated to serving rural communities is celebrating its first anniversary – and its 100th arrest.
The North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce have pledged to keep up the pressure on rural crime over the coming 12 months.
In 2015, the National Rural Crime Survey discovered that rural communities were not only living in fear of crime being committed against them, but that they were under-reporting crime by up to a third.
In response to this, and following a meeting involving more than 100 stakeholders, North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce was established in April 2016.
North Yorkshire is not the only county who have created a rural task, Derbyshire, Hampshire and Suffolk have also.
The North Yorkshire Rural Taskforce, however, builds on the work already carried out by North Yorkshire Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Teams, response officers and proactive policing colleagues in tackling rural crime head-on.
In its first year, Taskforce officers made 101 arrests, reported 71 people for summons and seized 39 vehicles.
Officers and PCSOs have attended more than 100 community events across the county – including the Great Yorkshire Show and regularly frequent local livestock markets and sales.
'Very productive'
Inspector Jon Grainge leads the Rural Taskforce. He said: “The team have had a very busy – and very productive – first year of operation.
“Crucial to our success is working with the community, talking to local residents and businesses, understanding the issues that affect them and offering advice wherever possible. There have been thousands of conversations over our first year and this year we’ll have thousands more.
“That two-way communication is vital, and we need people to continue to tell us about suspicious incidents.
“Particularly in rural areas, local residents and businesses can act as the eyes and ears of the police, helping us clamp down on crime and anti-social behaviour whenever it occurs. Local people know when something or someone is suspicious, out of place or unusual in your community and we need you to tell us about it.”
Rural well-being
The Taskforce has also been addressing well-being issues, recognising that that people in rural communities can be vulnerable.
Officers and PCSOs have been distributing leaflets to make people aware of the support available, and are working with partner agencies to ensure appropriate interventions take place, and help is provided where necessary.
Other successful campaigns pioneered by the Taskforce in the last 12 months include 'Horse Watch' – a campaign ensuring expensive tack and equestrian equipment is protected against thieves and ‘Call It In’ – a campaign urging residents to report suspicious activity in rural areas to the police.
The campaign 'Dot peen', a sophisticated property marking machine, is used to engrave farm equipment to deter thieves and help police recover stolen property.
The Taskforce says they are working on more initiatives, with further operations and campaigns planned throughout 2017.
