Police chiefs to host Twitter debate on rural crime

Farmers and landowners are being invited to take part in a Twitter discussion about rural crime.

4Policing, a consultancy group that brings together top former police officers from around the country, will be hosting the discussion from 12-10pm on Wednesday 30 April.

Police officers, farmers, rural organisations and others with an interest in country communities and its associated crime will join the discussion to give advice, share ideas, build contacts, plus views and questions.

See also: You can report crimes in your area using our Crime Register

Former wildlife crime police officer and director of 4policing Mike Pannett said: “In many forces, the police presence in rural communities is largely being maintained by PCSOs and special constables, supported by a handful of rural police officers who will inevitably have responsibility for huge areas.

“Sadly now, the perception is that police response times are just too slow. A police car could have to travel 30 miles or more on blue lights to respond to a call in a rural area. The shocking reality of this is that it’s unlikely the culprits will get caught red-handed and that victims have reached the stage where they only report incidents in order to get a crime number for their insurance claim.Mike Pannett, 4policing

“Sadly now, the perception is that police response times are just too slow. A police car could have to travel 30 miles or more on blue lights to respond to a call in a rural area. The shocking reality of this is that it’s unlikely the culprits will get caught red-handed and that victims have reached the stage where they only report incidents in order to get a crime number for their insurance claim.

“National Farmers Union figures suggest community watch-type schemes and social media such as Twitter are the most widely used methods for communicating crime alerts and information within communities surveyed.

“The flow of information is critical, as well as reporting all crime no matter how small, so farmers should consider getting on board with these ‘watch’ groups and with social media.

“Local policing teams are actively engaging on Twitter and Facebook and you really are missing out if you’re not linked up. Only by working together sharing information and intelligence and ‘target-hardening’ your business and property as best as you can will help combat rural crime. “

Follow the session by using the hashtag #RuralCrime

You can find 4Policing at @4policing and follow Farmers Weekly at @farmersweekly