DAY 11: Wokingham neighbourhood team attend Swallowfield Show

The Wokingham LPA began the first of their five days on a hot and sunny (for once!) bank holiday weekend, setting up shop at the Swallowfield Show at Spencers Wood.

Showing off the very fancy police tractor and 4x4, the team, which consisted of PCSO Suzie Carr and PCSO Natalie Buckett manned a ‘have your say’ gazebo and information stand armed with rural-related crime prevention tips and advice.

If you didn’t manage to meet the team at the Show, take at look below at our farm safety 12 point check list to get an idea of some the information your neighbourhood team and crime prevention officers can help with.

·         Nameplate: is your house/farm sign displayed at the entrance?

·         Fire hydrant: Where is the nearest fire hydrant?

·         Water supplies: Location of available additional water supplies for example

tanks, ponds, rivers?

·         Evacuation plan: Is a written animal evacuation plan available at all times?

·         Dangerous animals: Are stables/ stalls/ fields identifiable if you are not

there?

·         Flammable risks: What materials do you have on site and are they suitably

stored away from fire risks?

·         Chemicals: What chemicals are stored, how many and where? Are they

marked with the relevant safety instructions?

·         Fuel/ diesel: Are supplies/ tanks/ pipes clearly marked?

·         Staff: Are your staff aware of emergency procedures and contact numbers?

·         Housekeeping: Are your electrics, workshops and yards maintained and

kept tidy?

·         Public: Are you hosting the general public on your property? How many are

likely to be present?

·         Agricultural buildings: How many buildings do you have on the site? What

size are they and what is their current use, i.e. animal, crops, hay, chemicals,

machinery?

For more information or advice about any of the above subjects, contact your Neighbourhood Policing Team by finding their email via the Thames Valley Police website.



DAY 10: Having your say about rural crime

Throughout the last five days, Chiltern and South Bucks have run six ‘Have Your Say’ meetings at key rural locations within the area.

Yesterday (8/8), a very successful ‘Have Your Say’ was run at Dorney Court Garden Centre in Dorney. Over 70 people met with PCSOs and had the chance to talk about what rural crime issues concerned them most. 30 attendees agreed to sign up to the Thames Valley Alert messaging service and the majority left with packs of crime prevention advice and ideas about how to secure their property and land.

You can find specific advice about how to protect your farm and land on the Country Watch pages on the Thames Valley Police website or contact your Neighbourhood Team at any time if you would like to speak to someone in person about protecting your property.

Giving crime prevention advice and a Country Watch gate sign



DAY 9 – ANPR in hotspot areas across Chiltern and South Bucks

The team in Chiltern and South Bucks have been conducting Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) road side checks in intelligence lead, ‘hotspot’ areas.

The aim of using ANPR is to both disrupt any criminal behaviour in progress and prevent crime by being visible to the surrounding community. Any vehicles picked up by the ANPR cameras are stopped and checks are carried out on both the car and driver and passengers.

Although officers may be specifically on the look-out for rural crime activity and intelligence, quite often other offences are discovered as a result of the operation, as Insp Emma Burroughs explains: “Chiltern and South Bucks LPA have conducted 12 ANPR operations at various rural locations within the Local Policing Area (LPA).

“The intention is to carry out high visibility patrols to detect and deter criminals who are committing crime on our area.

“The rural crime figures are low for this LPA so the ANPR operations focus on all crimes affecting the LPA.  In excess of 2000 vehicles have passed through these sites, 110 of those vehicles have been stopped.

“The results have been for traffic process i.e. no insurance and the vehicles seized, or no keeper details and a number of interactions have taken place with motorists to promote the LPA’s work around rural crime.”

ANPR camera set up

DAY 8: Arrest made in connection with a burglary in Chalfont St Peter



A 33 year-old man has been arrested at an address in Queen Victoria Road, High Wycombe in connection with a burglary which happened on Wednesday (7/8) in Bull Lane, Chalfont St Peter.

The man, who is from Denham in Uxbridge, was arrested yesterday (8/8) and has been bailed until the 9 September.

DAY 7: Tack marking at Snowball Farm and feisty Friesians on the A40

PCSO Vicky Kiffin had a busy day yesterday (7/8) marking up horse tack at Snowball Farm in Burnham. 40 pieces of tack were marked using Datatag’s equestrian security kits.

TVP have secured discounts on Datatag tack marking kits for Thames Valley horse owners. See the below flier for more info. If you would like to speak to your Neighbourhood Policing Team about securing your stables and tack, you can find out who they are and contact them via the TVP website.





Tack marking at Snowball Farm



In udder news...

PCSO Anish Sharma came across a group of unruly road users on the A40 in Gerrards Cross: The team tweeted: “We are responding to a report of a cow on the road on the A40 in Gerrards Cross - Please drive with care whilst we try and mooooo-ve it on!!”

It was later established a group of not one, but seven cows were loose on the road, milking the officer’s time and energy trying to remove these boisterous bovines back to where they came from.

Thankfully, the group caused no beef with other traffic and they were returned safely and unharmed.

Meanwhile in West Berkshire...

While the 100 days of action excitement continues in Chiltern and South Bucks, officers in West Berkshire have arrested and charged a man with criminal damage to property valued under £5000, possession of an air rifle when prohibited and receiving stolen goods.

The arrest came during a warrant which was executed yesterday (5/8) at 9.35am in Manor Lane in Oare, Hermitage, under section 26 of the Theft Act. During the warrant, several items were recovered including a carpet cleaner, a metal deer statue and power tools which are all believed to be stolen. 10 air rifles and four vehicles have also been seized.

The man in question, 38-year-old Stephen Banham of Manor Lane, Oare, Hermitage appeared at Reading Magistrates Court this morning (6/8) and has been remanded until the 19 August.

Supt Robin Rickard, LPA Commander for West Berkshire, had this to say about yesterday’s operation: “Significant police resources were deployed yesterday to conduct this warrant and I know that this would have caused some disruption and concern to the local community.

“I would like to reassure people living and working in the community that this is part of our effort to tackle rural crime and carrying out activity, such as executing search warrants, is an important tactic in reducing rural crime”

DAY 6 Chiltern and South Bucks find stolen Ifor Williams trailer

Chiltern and South Bucks began the first of their summer five days yesterday (5/8) patrolling alongside Datatag representative, Nick Mayall.

While patrolling the village of Ashley Green just north of Chesham, Nick spotted what he thought looked like a stolen trailer. 

The recovered Ifor Williams trailer



“The first thing I noticed, from about 20 yards away, was that the laser etched security code,which are always on the chassis on Ifor Williams trailers, had been welded over.”



The laser etched security code, standard for Ifor Williams trailers had been welded



On closer inspection, it was discovered that the serial number on top if the A frame had been ground off and the chassis plate had obviously been tampered with, quite clear and obvious signs of a stolen trailer.

A tampered chassis plate



The serial number had been ground off

 Although no arrests have been made in connection with the stolen trailer yet, the trailer has been recovered and will be taken to the TVP vehicle examiner to restore the original security code and of course, find the real owner!

Sgt Melvin Mutch, from the Amersham Neighbourhood Policing Team (and recent 2 time gold medallist at the World Police and Fire Games 2013, round of applause please!!) said: “This is great example of how Datatag can work in partnership with us to combat thefts of farming and agricultural property.

“Their knowledge about farming equipment is extensive and they have passed on specialist advice to our officers about what to look out for on tampered or potentially stolen farming machinery.

"This advice is incredibly valuable to the team while we continue to tackle rural crime.”