Welcome from Simon Prince

07 April 2015 Welcome from Simon Prince As the National Policing Lead for Rural and Wildlife Crime my role is to give guidance and direction on the development of policing services, akin to the two areas of responsibility, to all police forces in England and Wales. As the National Policing Lead for Rural and Wildlife Crime my role is to give guidance and direction on the development of policing services, akin to the two areas of responsibility, to all police forces in England and Wales. Wildlife crime is catered for with the National Wildlife Crime Unit playing a major role in standardising investigations and linking up many partnerships with various other law enforcement agencies and Non-Government Organisations. Rural crime, however, is difficult to define hence the portfolio has to look closely at this area of policing not just as a crime issue but more broadly as ‘rural affairs.’ Rural based crime and issues that can affect rural life has many anomalies to urban crime. Although the categories of crimes are the same e.g. theft, burglary, drugs etc. their impacts on rural communities can be far reaching. A burglary in a town of 20,000 people may only impact on a small percentage of that community. The same burglary in a village of 200 people, however, can impact on all the residents. Replicate this in every hamlet, village and small market town in England and Wales and you can quickly see how important it is for policing to get it right. Building the trust and raising confidence in our rural communities is paramount for rural policing to have the desired impact. We need to listen, take action, tackle, disrupt and prevent crime and anti-social behaviour in our rural communities. Although crime rates are falling we must strive to bring offenders to justice and by working better and smarter with our rural communities we can achieve this. The National Rural Crime Network can assist operational policing in achieving our goals. It can listen to and speak on behalf of the rural communities ensuring that on the ground policing is tackling the important issues, however small they may seem to others. By highlighting the issues, it can influence the guidance and direction taken in rural policing. By working with the College of Policing, we can collectively develop working programmes and Authorised Professional Practices that can deliver the appropriate service to our rural communities. I look forward to working alongside the NRCN.

Welcome from Julia Mulligan

07 April 2015 Welcome from Julia Mulligan Growing up on a hill farm, and now being the Police and Crime Commissioner for the largest rural police force in the country, I am acutely aware of the blight rural crime can have on our more isolated people, communities, and businesses. Through no one’s fault, rural crime has fallen down the agenda, now seemingly an afterthought coming a distant second behind ‘serious’ crime in ‘urban’ areas. That needs to change, and it is changing. The National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) is a positive step forward, highlighting the needs of rural communities and the exploring the toll of hidden crime. Those of us involved in the NRCN, and anyone supporting our cause, will be writing blog posts to keep you up to date with developments. With everyone’s help we can make sure rural crime is front and centre of the police’s mind. To start us off on the right track we have developed this website. A place to share ideas, best practice and much else besides. Please do keep coming back to check for updates because our aim is to make this site as relevant and practical as possible. We are also undertaking what we hope is the biggest ever survey of rural residents and business (aside from the census) to really find out what impact crime has on you. It is your chance to tell us how you feel, and we hope it will shape the future of police services in our rural communities for years to come. Supported by the BBC, the NFU and many others besides, we hope to publish the results of the survey at the end of the summer. So, whilst there is a long road ahead to make sure rural crime, and rural services more widely, are given the prominence they deserve, we hope the National Rural Crime Network is the first step on that road. But none of it will work without your support. Please come back to check the website regularly. If you would like to promote the 2015 National Rural Crime Survey or to be contacted once it is live, please send us your contact details.