The NFU's Chief Land Management Adviser attended the National Police Chiefs Council Rural Affairs Summit where Deputy President Guy Smith gave a keynote speech on rural crime. He writes:
The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) Rural Affairs Summit was held on 25 July in Harrogate. This involved officers from over 40 police forces as well as a range of other stakeholders, and the NFU played a big part.
NFU Deputy President Guy Smith gave a keynote speech on the severity of the impacts on farmers of rural crime. To demonstrate this, Guy showed the NFU’s video highlighting the nature of the criminal activity and the impact on the victim.
Combatting Rural Crime: NFU video
Craig Naylor, Deputy Chief Constable for Lincolnshire and acting lead for the NPCC on rural crime, launched the new policing strategies for Wildlife Crime & Rural Affairs. DCC Naylor was clear that the police hope to achieve a new direction for policing rural crime in the UK and start to address the lack of understanding of the impacts on vulnerable people & businesses. He thanked the NFU, saying; “the work of the NFU is crucial in understanding the issues”
Pictured above: NFU Deputy President Guy Smith gave a keynote speech on the severity of the impacts of rural crime on farmers and growers.
The Summit heard from a number of police leads on each of the police’s new priority areas & each officer was adamant that having strategies is only the first step, this is day 1 and the real work starts now to make it work. Throughout the day, the work of the NFU on rural crime was recognised as crucial to understanding the nature of crimes affecting farm businesses and the impacts on the victims. As Inspector Paula Booth of North Yorkshire Police said;
“The support from the NFU is great - thank you for that.”
Pictured above: NFU Deputy President Guy Smith and Chief Land Management Adviser Sam Durham networking at the Rural Affairs Summit.
The NFU is pleased to see these policing strategies, the first time the police have had strategies to address rural crime, and will be working with the NPCC to see how the strategies are adopted by each Chief Constable. The strategies cover most areas of concern to NFU members, particularly the Rural Affairs Strategy which has priority areas of:
- Farm machinery, plant & vehicle theft
- Livestock offences (including livestock worrying & livestock theft)
- Fuel theft
- Equine crime (including fly grazing)
- Fly tipping (particularly waste through organized criminality)
- Poaching (including hare coursing & associated anti-social behaviour, threatening behaviour and illegal gambling)
Poaching also crosses over into the Wildlife crime strategy that also includes
- Badger persecution
- Bat persecution
- International trade in endangered species
- Freshwater pearl mussels
- Raptor persecution