Special police team to ‘doorstep’ farmers in Mid-Antrim area

Speaking exclusively to The Ballymena Times last Wednesday, Superintendent Ryan Henderson revealed that over the next fortnight local neighbourhood officers will be devoting five days to doorstepping of farms in the borough.

And he confirmed that such action is being taken in response to the recent surge in concern amongst rural dwellers over crime levels in the countryside.

“We recognise that rural crime is a big source of concern to our farming community and therefore it is a concern to us. We understand that the value of items taken can be significant and threaten the livelihood of rural businesses.

“It is top of our priority list and that is why we are working to shut the gate on rural crime,” he said.

The Superintendent said that police concurred with “anecdotal evidence” that rural crime had increased over the winter months within the Ballymena area and revealed that H District-wide (Ballymena, Larne, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Moyle) 10-13 incidents were being reported to police on a weekly basis.

“While that may not seem a lot, the impact of it can be high,” said the Superintendent.

“The reality is that it’s not the large items of plant or tractors being taken. Tractor theft is relatively rare across H District - six tractors have been stolen since April 2011”.

He added that most thefts related to small items which were easy to get hold of and easy to sell on.

According to the Superintendent, the majority of rural crime is opportunist and focused on - metal, particularly copper, from vacant dwellings and holiday homes; street furniture, such as manhole covers; handheld tools, snatched mainly from outbuildings, sheds and unlocked vehicles; and, diesel, taken from tractors and oil tanks.

ARRESTS

Since April, last year, across H District, 11 persons have been ‘caught in the act’ and charged by police and Supt Henderson revealed that in a bid to hamper transportation of any illgotten gains, vehicles were being scrutinised by ANPR cameras on major roads and via checkpoints and patrols on minor roads in the area.

“Since September, some 12,000 additional people hours have been detailed across H District to detect and deter the criminals that use the roads,” he said.

Stressing that prevention was also important in achieving a reduction in rural crime, he said that uptake of Crime Prevention measures and advice had been healthy amongst farmers with over 60 trailer owners taking advantage of the recent trailer marking scheme while 151 rural dwellers have signed up to Text Alert.

Police, he said, are also keen to offer reassurance to concerned members of the public, not least victims of crime.

“As well as additional patrolling, we have identified repeat victims of crime and will be revisiting them to see if there’s anything else we can do to help them e.g. offer crime prevention advice.

“If you’ve been a victim of rural crime you need to start to think about changing things and putting in place measures to make it more complicated for someone who might think about coming back to steal from you again,” he said.

“Over the next two weeks we will be sending our local officers to the doors of as many farms as we can within the area,” he went on to reveal.

“It’s an opportunity for farmers to tell us in confidence what they’re able to about rural crime”

Police officers who call will be hoping to get answers to three important questions:

* Where are thieves storing stolen items prior to selling them?

* Where is stolen diesel being offered for sale?

* What is the market for stolen tools?

“The answers to those questions will allow us plan our enforcement actions accordingly,” said Superintendent Henderson.

“We want the farming and rural community to help to fill information gaps and act as our eyes and ears in their areas. Firstly report suspicious activity. We will react,” he said.