A specialist team tasked with keeping rural communities across Leicestershire and Rutland safe is poised to hit the £1m mark in stolen property recovery - in just 12 months.
Since Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews bolstered the force's Rural Crime Team from three to eight officers last June, the taskforce has delivered outstanding results.
To date, the team has recovered more than £800k of stolen farm equipment and plant machinery and remains on course to hit the £1m mark in June - exactly a year after their expansion. They have also made significant arrests, stepped up cross border working, disrupted serious and organised crime and encouraged greater reporting of rural crime.
The initial three-strong team was unveiled at the end of 2021 as Mr Matthews declared rural crime as a top priority in his Police and Crime Plan and agreed a new Rural Crime Strategy with the force.
Six months later, the PCC's budget funded a further five officers to the team, all with a background in farming and a determination to tackle issues which disproportionately affect Leicestershire and Rutland's rural and farming communities including machinery theft, wildlife and heritage crime. They are supported by the force's 18 wildlife officers, heritage watch volunteers and those neighbourhood officers on rural beats.
Currently, the PCC is keeping the size and resources of the Rural Crime Team under review and has pledged to support expansion should that prove necessary.
Mr Matthews said: "When we bolstered the team, we knew they would make a vital difference but to see such outstanding results in the first year is nothing short of incredible.
"The team have gelled together and have worked so hard to forge links with rural businesses, farmers and residents to understand their concerns and identify how they can protect their livelihoods and homes better. Many of the successes have been the result of proactive and covert work informed by community intelligence and I would like to thank our rural neighbourhoods for their strong support of these teams and for continuing to report crime and suspicious activity.
"Our rural communities deserve robust policing, and that is something I have put into sharp focus since I was elected as Commissioner. As impressive as these results are, there is of course much more to do. The team will build on this excellent start and will continue to collaborate with partners to bring more rural criminals to justice and to disrupt the activities that bring misery to life in the countryside."
Insp Neil Whittle, who leads the Rural Crime Team, added: "We are making tremendous progress in the retrieval of stolen farm equipment and vehicles and it is a really positive step when we are able to return goods to farmers. Most of the equipment stolen is not only expensive but essential to Farming work and can be hugely impactive on farmer's ability to run their business. We can't underestimate the impact this type of theft has and we at the rural crime team are working hard to draw out those criminals who seek to steal this equipment. We are working hard to engage with our rural communities and listen to their concerns, tackling the type of crime which is unique to rural areas. The team are committed to their work and bringing criminals to justice and preventing rural crime where possible."
You can follow the activities of the Rural Crime Team on Twitter @LeicsRuralCrime or Facebook at ‘Leicestershire and Rutland Rural Policing Team'. You can also sign up to neighbourhood link at to get updates from your beat team.
Please do not report non-emergency crime through the Leicestershire & Rutland Rural Crime Team social media accounts but by calling 101 or submitting a report online. Phone 999 in an emergency.
