Rural crime action week asks whether rural policing stays on the agenda

Rural crime action week returns from 6 to 11 September, with the shooting and farming community asked to put its own experience on the record.

Run by the National Rural Crime Network, the week asks one question this year: whether rural policing should stay in the Government’s police reform agenda. Theft, criminal damage, fly-tipping and livestock worrying all fall within its scope, and the organisers argue that ministers cannot understand the scale of the problem unless they are told directly.

How to log an incident on the rural crime map

The Countryside Alliance is urging people to log incidents on its rural crime map, which does not replace reporting a crime to the police – anyone witnessing a crime in progress or facing immediate danger should still dial 999 – but which the organisation uses to build evidence for its campaigning.

A parliamentary drop-in on 8 September

It is also asking readers to urge their own MP to attend a parliamentary drop-in on Tuesday 8 September, hosted jointly with the network and sponsored by Greg Smith MP. The event will put MPs in front of police representatives, rural organisations and victims of countryside crime.

The Alliance says its evidence-gathering will carry on well beyond 11 September, with police and crime commissioners and chief constables also in its sights.