The Liberal Democrat candidate for Police & Crime Commissioner in Devon & Cornwall has accused the Conservative government of “neglecting” rural communities as new data reveals that the Devon & Cornwall force has only 3 police officers and staff dedicated to rural crime teams.
PCC candidate Steve Lodge said: “This is a damning statistic for our region where the rural community makes up a significant part of our landscape and income. This represents 0.05% of the Devon & Cornwall Police’s overall workforce – half that of the average in England and Wales which itself is just 0.1%.
“Last year, Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton & Honiton, Richard Foord, tabled a Bill that would require the Home Secretary to bring forward a strategy for tackling rural crime. While current initiatives such as Project Recall that aims to raise awareness about dog control in rural areas is welcome, much more needs to be done.”
Through a series of Freedom of Information requests, the Liberal Democrats have uncovered how many officers and staff are assigned to rural crime teams in each police force. 37 forces provided responses, including Devon & Cornwall. These disturbing revelations come as rural crime remains on the rise. NFU Mutual’s 2023 Rural Crime Report revealed that in 2022, the cost of rural crime across the UK rose by 22%, to an estimated total of £49.5 million.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said: “Yet again, we are seeing the shocking neglect of our rural communities from this Conservative government.
“Local communities are worried sick about the impacts of rural crime, and to have such a small number of officers dedicated to tackling this serious issue is shocking. No wonder so many cases are going unsolved and criminals are getting off the hook.”
The Liberal Democrat are arguing that every force should have a specialist coordinator in their rural crime team, in line with recommendations from The National Rural Crime Network.
Rural crime is “crime and anti-social behaviour occurring in rural areas”, and includes many specific types of crimes that are unique to the countryside like livestock theft. These teams are focused on preventing and solving rural crime, with specialist knowledge, equipment and skills.
ENDS
Caption: Richard Foord MP and Steve Lodge, Police & Crime Commissioner candidate
Notes to Editor:
This data was uncovered by a FOI request to all 43 police forces in England and Wales. Their responses, which can be accessed here, provided the following information:
- How many police officers and police staff were assigned to your Rural Crime Team, in FTE, as of the following dates:
- 31st December 2023
- 31st December 2022
- 31st December 2021
As of September 2023, there were 147,098 FTE police officers and 79,688 FTE police staff and designated officers. Source: Home Office, Police workforce, England and Wales: 30 September 2023.
Although there is no widely agreed definition, rural crime is defined by the National Rural Crime Network as “all crime and anti-social behaviour occurring in rural areas. This includes problems typically associated with the countryside such as wildlife and heritage crime, farm equipment and animal thefts.”