Rural Crime Prevention Week 13-21 July 2019

Next week Humberside Police are focusing on rural crime with pop-up events, farm visits and stands at local country shows.

Rural residents often have very different problems to urban areas and these events help us get out and reach our rural communities.

The events planned will give police the opportunity to talk to people about how to tackle the issues that are most affecting them.

At big events like the Crowle Rescue Day and Driffield Show there will be community police officers, many of whom have additional roles as Wildlife Crime Officers, PCSOs and volunteers on hand at stands.

Police will be happy to talk about how they can help prevent crime, how people can keep in touch with what’s happening in their area and to talk about any problems they are having.

Wildlife and Rural Crime Officer, Brandon Ward said, “We continue to be committed to dealing with the challenges of rural to make our area a safe place for our communities.

“We now have over 60 Wildlife Crime Officers (WCOs) trained in how to deal with specifically rural and wildlife crimes and this week will be a really good opportunity for us to talk to people about how we tackle these crimes.

“This year we have had some real successes in tackling rural and wildlife crime.  Between September 2018 and March 2019 we ran a very successful operation (Operation Galileo) to tackle poachers and harecoursers.  We used tactics and legislation to deal with this issue and stopped over 150 people.  This has led to a reduction in reported hare coursing incidents by 35% across the force area.

“Five men were also imprisoned for six months and issued Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) in relation to badger digging offences. Five dogs owned by them have now also found new loving homes.

“We could not have done this without the help of the public.  Most of these results have been obtained because suspicious people, inci

dents and vehicles have been reported to us.  That is why it is so important for people to report anything suspicious.

“If something doesn’t look right it usually isn’t.  Everyone can play a part in making their community a safer place, no matter how small.  You can report suspicious activity to us on our non-emergency number 101 or calling 999 in an emergency.

“We have organised this week of events throughout the East Riding, North and North East Lincolnshire so that people can have an opportunity to meet officers and to speak to them about things that matter to them.”

“It would be great to speak to as many people as possible at these events so if you are planning on a trip to any of the shows drop by and have a chat with us.”

Farm visits and pop-up surgeries will be taking place throughout the week with stands at the following events:

• Rescue Day, Crowle on Saturday 13 July​
• Hessle Feast on Sunday 14 July​
• Driffield Show on Wednesday 17 July​
• Blacktoft Sands Nature Reserve on Friday 19 July
• Bishop Wilton Show on Saturday 20 July