Multiple police forces across the UK do not have tags for tracking common rural crimes including fly-tipping, according to Freedom of Information responses compiled by the Country Land and Business Association.
This means officers must search records manually, which the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said is limiting the police’s ability to track trends, locate serial offenders, coordinate with other forces, and target these crimes effectively.
The FOI responses showed Leicestershire Police Force reported 55 fly-tipping cases in the past year, but only three were attended by officers.
Nottingham Police Force said fly-tipping is “generally a matter” for the council or Environment Agency to investigate, despite being a criminal offence, according to the CLA.
The CLA has called on the next government to invest in universal data standards and tags to enable joined-up policing, early awareness of trends, identification of target areas or crime types, and inform day-to-day policing operations and objectives.
The CLA’s FOI request also uncovered that many rural areas in England and Wales have no dedicated rural officers, ringfenced police funding, or forces with basic kit such as torches.
There’s no serious national coordination, measurement, or even basic kit, to tackle surging rural crime.
The CLA approached 36 police forces operating in rural areas across England and Wales, excluding forces like the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester which serve predominantly urban communities and had 20 responses.
According to the findings, five forces have no rural crime team and eight have less than ten dedicated rural officers.
The FOI request also found the police have a lack of equipment, including at least three forces without torches, six without mobile Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, and three without rural drone kits.
There is also a large disparity in rural crime team funding, with some receiving £900,000 and others just £1,250.
Commenting on the findings, CLA President Victoria Vyvyan said: “These findings show that our rural policing system is in crisis. There’s no serious national coordination, measurement, or even basic kit, to tackle surging rural crime.
“All forces need a rural crime equipment pack, including torches. We can’t expect police officers to tackle crime in the dark. And rural crime will remain unseen without proper tagging systems, backed by central funding and coordination.
“People living in the countryside feel treated like second-class citizens by law enforcement. They need assurances, in this general election and beyond, that this cannot go on.”
