Farmers unite against crime
Farmers are being enlisted in the fight against crime in Darlington’s rural areas.
Police and community groups are uniting to relaunch the Farmwatch scheme, in which people living in rural areas are encouraged to take an active role in tackling crime by watching out for suspicious activity and making sure all property is kept secure.
Police officers are visiting dozens of farms across the borough and handing out SmartWater kits so machinery can be marked. If a marked item is stolen and recovered by police, it can be more easily traced and returned to its owner.
PC Julian Brown said he hoped Farmwatch would be embraced by the rural communities. He said: “We want to introduce ourselves and reinforce existing relationships. We want farmers to know we don’t forget the rural areas and that we are there if they need us.
“SmartWater will make our job easier in reducing the amount of crime being reported. We would rather discourage a crime from happening in the first place than detecting one, though we are, of course, happy to detect as well.”
The new Farmwatch is incorporating other groups, including Countryside Crime Watch, founded by Brian Pavey. Mr Pavey said: “By working as a team we can beat the thieves and vagabonds working on the land.”