AN OUNCE of prevention is worth a pound of cure, particularly when it comes to rural crime.
Though rural theft has generally not increased through the drought, despite the recent theft of 30 bales of hay from a property near Tamworth, illegal hunting remains endemic and police are urging citizens to report instances of suspected crime.
Speaking to Fairfax Media at Commonwealth Bank AgQuip, Tamworth Police, Detective Senior Constable, Les Wallace from the Oxley rural crime unit said while there had not been a rise in the rural theft indices it was still important for farmers to remain alert and practice preventative measures to keep stock and plant safe.
“We haven’t had increased numbers of reports of hay or grain fodder theft, that may be as a lot of the hay produced has already been sold, or the hay purchased is fed out pretty quickly to stock,” he said.
Senior Detective Wallace said illegal access for the purposes of hunting remained endemic in rural areas.
“We have had people from all areas of NSW and even Queensland come through the stand saying they have experienced problems with illegal shooters and hunters, cutting fences, coming onto properties,” he said.
“Reporting it is in important, because it gives us a snapshot across the area as to what is occurring.
“Although you’ve fixed the fence, or it was only a couple of hundred litres of diesel stolen, if we don’t know about it we can’t target it.”
Senior Detective Wallace said attending events, like AgQuip, was important.
“It is a relaxed environment, where we can speak with people and try to implement some protective measures to combat crime, and if they have experienced crime in the past how they can prevent that from happening again,” he said.
Senior Detective Wallace said while locking up sheds every day was often impractical to do, other preventative measures could be easily adopted.
“If you are leaving the property for substantial periods of time let the neighbours know,” he said.
“Ensuring someone is around the property reasonably regularly is often enough to deter people coming in.
“Modern measures such as cameras are good, but they only help after the event.”
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