Two years on: Fight Rural Crime
It has always been abundantly clear to me that Dorset is home to immensely proud rural communities, and I have always been a strong believer that more could be done to support Dorset’s rural residents. That’s why when I created my Police and Crime Plan for Dorset, I included a priority to Fight Rural Crime.
This week I would like to share with you the work that has gone on in the last year towards that priority.
Rural Resources
I am proud to say that the size of the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team has grown fourfold since 2021 with their now being the capacity for 18 members. With this increase, the team have helped return over £1 million worth of stolen machinery to victims of crime over the last year.
I have also supported investment into two new vehicles for the Rural Crime Team, a rural crime engagement van and a bespoke 4x4 vehicle, which allows the Rural Crime team to reach more remote areas and rural communities, improving visibility, connectivity and communication between the police and the rural communities they serve.
Our Rural Crime Team has been strengthened massively, not only in terms of their number and in the resources available to them but also in their ability to work effectively with colleagues and partner organisations across the county. Last year, my office established the Dorset Partnership Against Rural Crime (PARC) as a forum for partner agencies to work together to tackle rural crime. So far, the partnership has been working successfully to set up specialist training for police officers, work together to catch offenders of wildlife crime and establish ‘task and finishing groups’ to focus on areas that need better collaboration between agencies.
In April Dorset hosted the first ever ‘South West Regional Rural Crime Conference’ which saw the five police forces across the South West come together to share best practice and learn from industry experts.
Wildlife Crime
The Rural Crime Team are not only now far better equipped to address the organised crime that takes place in our countryside and engage with rural communities. The team is now also supported by 18 official wildlife officers who have now been trained and are helping to combat wildlife crime across Dorset.
Country Watch
In September, my office launched the Country Watch website to inform rural businesses and the public of news and developments relating to rural crime. The site serves as a ‘one-stop shop’ for crime prevention advice and important information relating to rural, wildlife and heritage crime and is frequently updated with the latest rural news. Find out more about Country Watch here - Country Watch | Country Watch Dorset
Fly-tipping
Dorset PARC has a committed fly-tipping sub-group to ensure focus on this issue. The sub-group has already resulted in the creation of a multi-agency Information sharing agreement that is being progressed between the Environment Agency, Dorset Police, and local authorities, to enable sharing of high-level data to improve identification and prosecution of serious offenders. This information sharing is vital in ensuring partners work together to tackle fly-tipping.
In February, I joined with my counterparts for Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire to pen a letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs calling for tougher sanctions to tackle the 'growing menace' of fly-tipping. This was picked up by the National Rural Crime Network and other PCCs who supported the initiative.
I am pleased to be able to announce that as a result, the government has announced they are raising the minimum fine for the offence from £400 up to £1000. The government said that the increase in fines will give the enforcement agencies involved the tools they need to act. The changes will also see additional support given to local authorities to enable them to hand out more fines to ‘disrespectful offenders’, a league table for local authorities based on fly-tipping performance and a change in the law removing the need to have the regulator present when a police officer seizes a vehicle unlawfully carrying waste.
These are just a few of the highlights of the work going on to better support our rural communities in Dorset. A lot of work has gone into improving the service our rural residents receive from their police force – so it is important that we take a moment to take stock of how far we have come and note where we still need to improve.
That’s why I have joined with the other four PCCs across the south west to launch a rural crime survey. We want to know what rural residents think of Dorset Police and what crimes concern them the most.
As the voice of the public in policing, I am very keen to better understand my constituents’ views on these issues and will be urging as many people as possible to respond to the survey. I would be delighted and very grateful if Dorset’s rural residents would take part in this survey and tell me what they think.
David Sidwick
Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner
Rural Crime Survey - Take the survey here.