“Rural crime is on the rise.”

That’s the message of PCSO Tom Balchin of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team, while he prepares to leave Dorchester Police Station to patrol the county’s crime hotspots.

It comes as the Echo is given an exclusive insight into the work of one of the police force’s newest crime units.

PCSO Balchin is one of two members of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team, which is led by Police Constable Clare Dinsdale.

The team formed in August 2016, following residents’ concerns that crime is on the rise in rural places, including theft of farming equipment, livestock and poaching.

PCSO Balchin says: “We are not very long into it, we’re still finding our feet."

While Police Constable Clare Dinsdale co-ordinates the rural crime team, it is the role of PCSO Balchin to engage with the rural community.

As a trained gamekeeper and former member of the Young Farmers, PCSO Balchin says he knows how to speak with the rural community.

He says: "Not every officer has a rural background. Without us to understand the rural community they don't feel like they've got someone to listen to them."

A large part of his role is liaising with the rural community, and informing them how they can better safeguard their resources.

Whilst driving towards Ringstead Bay, PCSO Balchin explains the area has become a hotspot for poaching.

Rural crime data revealed by Dorset Police shows that during 2017 the most prevalent rural crime was poaching with a total of 191 incidents reported.

On arrival at Ringstead Bay car park, PCSO Balchin stops to open a gate to private farmland. He says building a level of trust with the farming community is a key part of his job and as a result he has been granted permission to patrol their land.

Whilst driving down a rural track, he points out damaged gates and tyre tracks, which show that there have been trespassers on the farmland.

Pulling up outside a dairy farm, he introduces Kim House, who is a victim of rural crime.

"It's rife if they see anything they'll pinch it"

Mrs House has had several pieces of farming equipment stolen and animals on her land have been illegally poached, including deer.

She told the Echo: “We have had our quad bikes stolen and have had to put trackers on everything which costs around £350 per item.

“We call the police if we see any lights, but they usually come when we’re asleep.

“It’s rife if they see anything they will pinch it, they don’t care what it is.”

“I have never known it so bad. We have been here 25 years it’s only in the last two to three years that it’s got worse. We used to leave everything out, but you can’t leave anything around now, absolutely nothing.”

She added that she would like to see harsher sentences on criminals guilty of rural crimes, as thefts of equipment such as quad bikes can cost farmers thousands of pounds.

PCSO Balchin explained: "Farmers can't just go and buy another one. With the time it takes to get a new quad bike it's not as simple as buying one off the shelf."

Farmers like Mrs House, who have experienced rural crime first-hand, are likely to notify the police if they see anything suspicious, but the same can’t be said for all farmers.

PCSO Balchin says the lack of reporting of rural crime makes it difficult for police to catch the criminals.

He explains: “Our key message is if people don’t report the crime, we won’t know it’s happened. The rural community is a very proud community. If I saw a suspicious vehicle which looks out of place I may report it, but they don’t think of the bigger picture. Something may happen on a farm and they will mention it two weeks later – ‘I saw a strange pickup truck’, but they don’t think to report it."

As well as this, PCSO Balchin explains that a lack of resources can make his job more challenging.

He said: "The area we cover is our biggest challenge with the resources we have."

PCSO Balchin and Police Constable Disdale cover the whole of Dorset, however, they often liaise with neighbourhood policing teams (NPTs) to help them engage with the rural community.

Dorset Police is in the process of consulting on plans to merge with Devon and Cornwall Police, which if accepted will be implemented by 2020.

PCSO Balchin gave his opinion on what will happen to the rural crime team if the merger goes ahead.

He explains: “If we merge we know we will be the fifth largest police force in the country. I don’t know how we will be affected yet, but I think the team may expand and hopefully more staff will be employed.”

Devon and Cornwall Police is one of only a number of police force's which already has a rural crime time, so the merger would mean both teams would be working together closely.

Returning to his earlier statement on rural crime. PCSO Balchin says: “We know rural crime is on the rise, but we’re not sure if this is because more people are reporting crime or because there are more incidents of rural crime."

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill has taken a keen interest in the team and recently joined them to see first hand the issues facing rural communities.

He said that the rural crime team was doing an outstanding job and he would continue to support its work.

To learn more about Dorset Police's Rural Crime Team contact ruralcrimeteam@Dorset.pnn.police.uk

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