| Security
Worrying trends suggest ‘growth’ in rural crime
The 2014 NFU Mutual Rural Crime Survey estimates that rural crime has risen by 5.2% in the past year, costing the UK
£44.5m in 2013. As well as high value tractors worth around £80k, thieves have been increasingly targeting lower value
tractors with low-tech security systems. Livestock theft has also increased by 25%, making 2013 one of the worst years
on record for livestock theft with Northern Ireland the worst affected area of the UK. 2013 also saw a substantial rise in
the number of opportunist thefts for items such as garden tools and ornaments.
tatistics also reveal that of
all UK counties,
Cambridgeshire bore the
greatest cost from rural
crime at £2.7m last year.
Northern Ireland and the
East Midlands saw the
largest year-on-year increase (38%
and 15% respectively). As well as
tractors and livestock thefts, the
other most commonly targeted
items were fuel, tools and quad
bikes, with the cost of quad bike
theft rising by 14%.
S
The most essential part of
choosing any security solution
is that you purchase from a
trusted supplier who meets the
relevant British and European
standards in regards to their
equipment.
Plant machinery is vulnerable as
it is often left alone for longer
periods of time, not to mention the
common single-key operating
system on a lot of older vehicles
that can make them easier to start
up and drive away. Plant theft is
also a largely international crime,
with organised criminals often
stealing the goods and
transporting them to international
destinations within a matter of
days, making them much harder
to track and retrieve.
To make matters worse, other
types of opportunist crimes – such
as the theft of tools and ornaments
– are also on the rise; meaning
efficient security is of the utmost
importance to the rural community.
Rural crime cost the UK £44.5m
last year, with all corners of the UK
affected across all sectors of the
agricultural industry. This means
that although plant machinery is
still a top priority on the rural
community’s list of security
concerns, criminals are
consistently finding new targets in
order to generate profit.
With this in mind, what can the
rural community do to protect their
businesses?
There is a wide range of
security products and services on
the market that can help tackle the
various problems, therefore, it can
be beneficial to take a holistic
approach to security, considering
a number of different integrated
methods rather than just a couple.
Physical security measures –
such as gates, fences and locks –
are often the first barrier of
defence so it is critical that they
are regularly maintained to work to
their optimum potential. As the
backbone of security, they should
also be the best possible
measures that the business can
afford, for example investing in
electronic security measures. As
part of a layered approach to
security, physical security
measures can provide the
essential layer of protection that
can help prevent crime all
together, or at the very least give
personnel ample time in order to
react accordingly to a potential
threat.
Overt obstructions such as
security fences, gates, or securitywire products can discourage
criminals from even attempting to
breach the security, eliminating the
risk immediately. Similarly, having
a human presence is very
effective. With well-trained manned
guarding patrolling the perimeter,
intruders are often immediately
discouraged.
Perimeter protection should be
linked to security further inside
property boundaries, such as an
intruder alarm or CCTV cameras,
allowing for careful observation of
the perimeter around the clock.
CCTV cameras are very effective,
especially when integrated with
other systems. For example, using
CCTV in conjunction with
Automatic Number Plate
Recognition (ANPR) software
allows for the identification of
vehicles moving in and ou