It’s really important to report matters of rural crime or suspicious incidents to the police – here’s why:
- Suspicious incidents are included and are really useful for police work. Often seeing a suspicious vehicle enter a lane, a yard or cold call can be an early warning they are looking to come back to steal. Vehicle registrations can give us information on who is doing this. Therefore these incidents are just as important to report as actual crimes!
- Most importantly – without the figures and reports it looks like the crime isn’t happening in the rural areas. We are pushing for more resources, more help to tackle rural crime and so need to evidence to show what is happening, where and when. We can also offer rural crime prevention and discuss trail cameras, early intruder alarms and offer a property marking service.
All reports of crimes, incidents or suspicious vehicles *must* go to the main West Mercia Police reporting options and not to be emailed to individual officers, Safer Neighbourhood Teams or Rural and Business Officers. These officers do not have the capacity to deal with adding crimes onto the system and are not 24/7, whereas the police control room is and can allocate the matter immediately if urgent.
HOW TO REPORT CRIME
If happening ‘now’ – where a crime is in progress then please use 999.
If relevant, tell the call taker that this is a repeat area for poaching/theft/another crime type problem and if firearms have been heard.
- Exact location – postcode is good for our control room to quickly grid it on the system, can refer to nearby landmarks especially if they are sending officers to the scene if a live job. If possible obtain a what3words reference.
- If offenders can be seen – how many, description, with dogs, carrying anything, etc –
- Vehicles – registrations are fantastic but if not make/model or even a dark coloured 4×4 helps
- Actions seen or heard (what are they doing and why it is suspicious) – ie trespassing in a field, seen them release a dog on a deer (helps identify at an early stage if we have a witness to offences of poaching.
- Any weapons seen or heard – firearms or seen using catapults (or even large boltcroppers!)
- Any damage caused (crops, padlock to a gate, gate, fence has been cut – all crimes of criminal damage) or could be attempt theft if motive is trying to enter a yard.
- What taken, full description, photo, serial number, if marked in anyway
- Any dumped carcasses or suspected stolen property, if so what & where
- Likely access points intruders have got in from and to leave
- Whose land it is/your role
If not a 999 – happening now – then can call 101 if still of an urgent nature, ie something left at the scene that could be evidence or offenders recently left and could be nearby/still out poaching – especially with suspicious vehicle info and a registration.
For all non urgent reporting, as 101 is still a very busy service, we ask for reporting via our online service via the West Mercia Police website.
