CLA East meets with rural crime teams

The CLA East advisers have had a number of meetings with rural police forces since the New Year. CLA Regional Surveyor, Eleanor Willats, recently attended annual meetings with Essex, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire police forces to discuss rural matters important to members.

Topics discussed included the anticipated Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which is aimed at cracking down on crimes effecting communities. Police forces are still awaiting the full details of what the government plans will be, but the rural policing teams are hopeful that their teams will see benefits from this.

The theft of plant and machinery is still an issue in many counties and all police forces are encouraging owners to mark their machinery using mark-up kits such as Cesar Scheme. Eleanor also raised the issue of firearms licensing delays in some counties with the relevant police forces, who acknowledged the issue and confirmed they are actively trying to recruit further staff into these roles. Eleanor has requested further information on timescales of waiting times for these counties.

Concerns around fly-tipping, hare coursing and GPS equipment thefts are often raised in these meetings too.

We know that rural crime is a big issue for our members. Please get in touch if you would like to speak to one of our regional advisers about rural crime matters. Please call the CLA East office on 01638 590429.