Rutland’s rural policing team were at Rutland County Show

Rutland and Melton Mowbray’s rural policing team of PC Christopher Vickers and PC Matt Houghton were in attendance at the Rutland County Show on Sunday.

PC Christopher Vickers explained: “The rural policing team was set up because it was realised that people who live in rural areas – Rutland being one of them – were not getting the policing services that they deserved.

“We are now the direct contact point for farmers, businesses and those who live in rural communities. Currently, we are dealing with plant thefts such as mini-diggers and metal thefts with scrap values so high as they are at the moment.

Across Leicestershire and Rutland the rural policing team is made up of eight members of staff, but while there are eight all-terrain vehicles in the fleet currently, there is an issue with some officers having to share vehicles as they take enormous punishment going to the parts of the countryside that they do, and they can be prone to breaking down.

But as PC Vickers pointed out, it is hoped that newer additional all-terrain vehicles will be added to the fleet shortly, thereby ensuring that all members of the rural policing team are able to respond and patrol at all times.

mpu1

The timely presence of the rural policing team came as it was announced the latest successes of the team who are poised to hit the £1m mark in stolen property recovery – in just 12 months. To date, the team has recovered more than £800k of stolen farm equipment and plant machinery, have made significant arrests, stepped up cross border working, disrupted serious and organised crime and encouraged greater reporting of rural crime.

Rutland and Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews (Con) said: “When we bolstered the team, we knew they would make a vital difference but to see such outstanding results in the first year is nothing short of incredible.

“The team have gelled together and have worked so hard to forge links with rural businesses, farmers and residents to understand their concerns and identify how they can protect their livelihoods and homes better. Many of the successes have been the result of proactive and covert work informed by community intelligence and I would like to thank our rural neighbourhoods for their strong support of these teams and for continuing to report crime and suspicious activity.

“Our rural communities deserve robust policing, and that is something I have put into sharp focus since I was elected as commissioner. As impressive as these results are, there is of course much more to do. The team will build on this excellent start and will continue to collaborate with partners to bring more rural criminals to justice and to disrupt the activities that bring misery to life in the countryside.”

Insp Neil Whittle, who leads the rural crime team, added: “We are making tremendous progress in the retrieval of stolen farm equipment and vehicles and it is a really positive step when we are able to return goods to farmers. Most of the equipment stolen is not only expensive but essential to farming work and can be hugely impactive on farmer’s ability to run their business. We can’t underestimate the impact this type of theft has and the rural crime team are working hard to draw out those criminals who seek to steal this equipment. We are working hard to engage with our rural communities and listen to their concerns, tackling the type of crime which is unique to rural areas. The team are committed to their work and bringing criminals to justice and preventing rural crime where possible.”

The two rural team officers were part of a large Leicestershire and Rutland Policing presence at the Rutland County Show which demonstrated new speed camera technology, the civilian and military dog teams and general policing in the Rutland region.