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

DAY 12: Datatag security marking event at Wheatlands Farm



For their second day, the team on Wokingham LPA took on a day of rural crime prevention action in the form of security marking with Thames Valley Rural Crime Partners, Datatag.

The team set up at Wheatlands Farm in Finchampstead and throughout the day fitted two farm vehicles with the Datatag security kit and 23 saddles marked in total using the saddles security system supplied by Datatag and an engraving tool.

Nicola Greenward, who is a member of the Rural Crime Action Group and was on site throughout the day, said she was pleased with the turnout and some people had driven over specifically to get their tack marked.

There was lots of interest expressed at the event, in particular for another event to be held in conjunction with a pony or riding club where horseboxes and trailer could also be security marked.

If you’re part of a pony or riding club and would like to hold an event of your own, get in touch with your local neighbourhood team by calling 101 or email them via the website.

Thames Valley Police continue to offer a discount on Datatag’s plant machinery and tack marking security systems to residents living in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. The standard price for the CESAR kit is £178.80 (including VAT). The Thames Valley Police discount allows residents to have the kit installed for £105.60 (including VAT).



Rural police officers speak to a passer by on a routine patrol