More farmers investing in security over rural crime fears
© Tim Scrivener Growing fears about crime in the countryside triggered a surge in the number of farmers and rural dwellers who beefed up security measures to protect their homes and businesses from criminals, new research shows.
A survey of nearly 3,000 people who live or work in the countryside revealed that more than half (53%) had installed crime prevention measures in the past 12 months due to an increased fear of crime.
The costly investments included video and infrared CCTV, security lighting and tighter protection for vehicles.
See also: Q&A with a rural policeman on crime prevention for farmers
The findings from the Countryside Alliance’s 2021 Rural Crime Survey (PDF) revealed a worrying rise in the number of people who feel the need to protect themselves, after the previous year’s survey showed that 48% of respondents had installed security measures.
Fly-tipping was once again the top rural crime reported in the survey and, overall, 43% of people said they have been a victim of rural crime in the past 12 months.
The top six rural crimes reported were:
- Fly-tipping
- Trespass (not in itself criminal unless aggravated)
- Agricultural machinery theft
- Wildlife crime and hare poaching
- Theft from outbuildings
- Criminal damage – arson, vandalism
However, one in four did not report these crimes to the police – mainly because they believed this would be a waste of time and would not lead to any prosecutions.
Fly-tipping shot to the top of the list of crimes rural communities want police to prioritise, followed by livestock rustling, poaching and farm machinery theft.
The survey also revealed that:
- 70% of people thought crime has increased in the past 12 months
- 48% of people who reported a crime were dissatisfied with the police response, down from 56% of people in 2020
- 48% of people have felt intimidated by criminality over the past year.
Sarah Lee, head of policy at the Countryside Alliance, said: “The implication of these findings is that we have a rural population simply putting up with the crime they experience and making do as best they can.
“There is often no escape from the effects of rural crime, with the fear of crime doing just as much damage as the crimes that are committed.”
Rural crime taskforce
The Countryside Alliance wants a national rural crime taskforce set up and a review of the police funding formula.
The campaign group said policing in rural areas brings its own challenges with isolated, sparsely populated areas, and limited access to support services. This means that it is expensive to police on a per capita basis.
The NFU has thrown its support behind a cross-government rural crime taskforce.
Deputy president Stuart Roberts said: “Our own survey from earlier this year found that, on average, farmers have invested £3,994 on crime prevention measures over the past five years.
“And still, every single week I hear about new reports of industrial-scale amounts of rubbish being dumped on farmers’ land, or trespassers causing serious distress for farming families.”
NFU Mutual said fly-tipping had been a huge problem for farmers since the pandemic and research by the insurer found that nearly half of its rural customers had experienced stress and anxiety in 2020, with the threat of rural crime likely to be a contributing factor.