Who cares about rural crime? Certainly not the national media, which seems to focus almost exclusively on urban areas. You could be forgiven for thinking that outside of the major towns, you can leave your doors unlocked and the keys in the car ignition.
At last, however, the scale of rural crime is starting to be recognised. Results of the first-ever Rural Crime Network survey were recently reported on the BBC programme Countryfile. According to presenter Tom Heap make for “troubling reading”.
Thieves target equipment and livestock
Official figures show that in 2014, there were 95,000 crimes against agriculture, forestry and fishing premises, affecting about a quarter of rural businesses. According to NFU Mutual, “..the most common crimes were vehicle theft, burglary and livestock theft with fuel, tools and quad bikes the most commonly taken items. Livestock theft remains an issue, following a number of high value claims over the past 12 months.”
They also note that equine crime claims have increased by 25% since 2013.
The theft of expensive agricultural equipment is of course massively disruptive for businesses. And in some cases, the equipment is used for further crimes, as seen last year when telehandlers were used to steal ATM machines.
Equipment theft and asset tracking
What can farmers and other rural businesses do to prevent themselves from becoming victims? Obvious steps could include ensuring keys are taken out of all vehicles and installing CCTV and security lighting.
While all these measures can certainly help, the next step in security would be to use an asset-tracking service. These high-tech solutions can alert the owner to when equipment is being moved illegally, and where it is heading. Together with an alarm-response and recovery service (so the owner doesn’t have to put him/herself in danger), these systems are an effective means of tackling increasingly sophisticated criminals.
IBA UK’s asset-tracking service combines the technical know-how of industry leaders AMI group with our own extensive security expertise. Contact us today to find out what our bespoke service can offer.
Farmers and other rural businesses work hard enough as it is, without having to deal with the stress and massive disruption of equipment theft. We are confident that our new tracking service can offer peace of mind and a real solution to an undiscussed but very real problem.