DAY 23: Police officers in Aylesbury patrol off road and visit 667 houses

The team set off in the police 4x4s to patrol the off road areas around the Buckingham villages yesterday.

Patrolling off road

Meanwhile the PCSOs and Aylesbury Vale District Council visited 667 houses in the villages around Cheddington and signed up 154 to the alerts messaging system.

An ANPR operation set up on the Bedfordshire border flagged up 38 vehicles of interest to police out of the 2005 vehicles which drove past. These were all for traffic offences such as no insurance and all were pulled over and dealt accordingly.

PCSOs and AVDC set off to visit residents around Cheddington



ANPR on the Bedfordshire border



Day 23 ended with an evening talk at a school in Buckingham about wildlife crime. Hare coursing and poaching are both rural crime priorities for Thames Valley Police to tackle.

It is now the time of year when hare coursers and poachers become a real problem for the farmers and landowners in the area and police officers are encouraging anyone who sees suspicious activity or thinks people may be poaching or hare coursing to report it to police straight away.

What to look out for:

·         Groups of vehicles parked up in a gateway, bridle path, farm tracks or grass verges, anywhere rural!

·         There will usually be estate cars, 4x4s or vans. You may see evidence that there have been dogs inside the cars like muddy paw prints or dog hairs

·         Hare coursers often travel in convoy with transit vans and the front and back and the cars in the middle

·         Lights or torches at night in wooded areas or across fields could be a sign of someone illegally hunting

·         Hare coursing tends to start after harvest (end of August, beginning of September) but it can continue up until Christmas.

If anyone sees any of the above, even if you think it’s probably nothing, call police on 101 straight away.

Participants of hare coursing and poaching do not consider the land they are trespassing on. Their vehicles ruin land and crops which can cost the land owner a lot of money.

Visiting a farm in Shalstone

Windsor team arrest man for hunting offences during 100 days of action

On Tuesday evening (27/8), the team in Windsor responded to a call from a local farmer reporting people trespassing on his land with lamps and guns near Crimp Hill Road in Windsor.

Following a swift response from the officers, a group of young people were found carrying bags, air rifles and lamps. All were searched and one man was found to be in possession of a dead rabbit and was arrested for hunting act offences.

During the interview the 21 year-old man from Slough made admissions and was given a caution.

If you spot suspicious activity and think people may be hunting in your area, call 101 to report it or if the crime is in progress, call 999.

DAY 13: Windsor and Maidenhead team set up shop



The Windsor and Maidenhead team had a successful day yesterday setting up the mobile police station at the Windsor Farm Shop. Between 11am and 4pm, the team had a steady flow of visitors coming to see them throughout the day and as well as rural crime prevention advice, they spoke to many non-farming residents about metal theft, fly tipping and general home security.



The team at Windsor Farm Shop



Anne Chalmers, the Crime Prevention and Reduction Advisor for the area then crewed up with two officers and headed out to Windsor where they visited seven farms and 10 farms in Ascot to discuss access security, agricultural machinery marking and oil and diesel security. Six of the residents visited signed up to Country Watch Alerts (the others were already signed up!).

Nigel Berryman, who farms on the Crown Estate said of the advice he has recieved: “I’ve certainly found it very useful. For us living on the urban fringe it’s great to see the police being more proactive with rural crime than they have ever been before.”

Anne and the team have more visits to do this week in the Maidenhead area, so keep a look out for them!

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the Country Watch messaging system yet, visit the site and sign yourself up. You will receive up to date crime news, witness appeals and crime prevention advice from your local neighbourhood policing team which is relevant to you area and the rural and farming community. You can also find some useful advice on the site about how to better protect your property and land.