Unite to fight crime

1 February 2002




Unite to fight crime

POLICE and farmers must increasingly work together if rural crime is to be tackled.

So says Lincs NFU chairman Liz Brailsford, who recently accompanied local police on Operation Fox.

The one-day initiative saw police cars and personnel take a "high-visibility" profile in a bid to tackle hare coursing. It ran in tandem with the on-going Operation Leveret which sees farmers – working in pairs with video cameras – act as "information gatherers".

An early tightening of the legislation on coursing is needed, says Mrs Brailsford, who dubs the current laws "antiquated" and the fines imposed by magistrates "paltry".

"We have to keep working in partnership – rural people have to keep reporting crimes," she says.

Sergeant Simon Mumford of Spilsby Police Station agrees. "Keep reporting things to us and keep talking to us," he urges.

Liz Brailsford with Sergeant Simon Mumford and Inspector Chris Moon.


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