Tackling crime in our rural communities

This week is National Rural Crime Action Week (NRCAW).

To mark the launch of the national week of action my team joined Gwent Police’s rural crime team to meet with farmers, rural workers and residents at the Monmouthshire Livestock Market.

It was a good opportunity to engage with our rural communities about the issues that are affecting them, and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to speak with my team.

This week the Chair of the National Rural Crime Network has used NRCAW to call for all Chief Constables in England and Wales to introduce rural crime teams into their forces. We established Gwent’s rural crime team in 2019 and I am proud that we were ahead of the curve. 

The team is dedicated to tackling rural, heritage and wildlife crime. This can range from supporting local authorities to stop fly tipping, helping to protect Gwent’s deer herds from poachers, working with farmers to safeguard their properties or preventing damage and vandalism to some of our most historic buildings.

Crime in our rural communities may not have the same profile as other crime types but, for those it affects, it is no less important. We rely on these communities for food production, tourism and leisure opportunities, and to look after our heritage and green spaces. It is essential that we do what we can to protect them.

You can follow Gwent Police’s rural crime team on X (formerly Twitter) throughout the week for regular updates via @GPRuralCrime.