In this week’s column from Police Scotland, PC Lynn Black tells us more about the work of the National Rural and Acquisitive Crime Unit..

“I am PC Lynn Black and I work as part of the Police Scotland’s National Rural and Acquisitive Crime Unit.

“I cover rural crime for the whole country but am based within Lothians and Scottish Borders Division, which, as you already will be aware, has a very large rural communities, particularly the Scottish Borders.

“Police Scotland is part of the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) and we have seven national rural crime priorities.

“The first of these is agricultural vehicle, quad, farm machinery and plant theft and this is one of the most impactful for those in the Borders who live and work on farms. The theft of these items can have significant consequences for rural workers and we are committed to doing everything we can to providing all the relevant crime prevention advice, as well as investigating any and all such incidents that occur.

“Priorities two, three, four, five and six relate to hare coursing, livestock offences, heritage crime, equestrian incidents and fly-tipping respectively. The vast majority of the public have the utmost respect for native wildlife, farm animals and the environment, but sadly, a small minority conduct themselves in a manner that put many species, and the rural landscape itself, at risk. We treat these matters extremely seriously and regularly report people to the Procurator Fiscal for their involvement.

“The final SPARC rural crime priority relates to fuel and timber theft and this is one that is becoming ever more prevalent, as the entire UK lives through the current rise in fuel prices and cost of living increases. Often the easiest targets for fuel theft are storage units on the edge of a rural property, near to a road. As such, we continue to work with rural communities to enhance security around their homes and businesses.

“Over the last six months, the Scottish Borders has seen the highest number of rural crime incidents in Scotland, with the Aberdeenshire area coming second. The majority of crimes reported to us involved the theft of quad bikes, plant, or agricultural vehicles. This is a trend we are seeing across the country, but in the Borders we have seen a sharp rise, which may be the result of travelling criminals coming from other areas to target your local farms and rural areas.

“As Area Commander Chief Inspector Vinnie Fisher stated in his last column, we wholeheartedly encourage people to report any suspicious vehicles or incidents occurring in your rural communities. Sometimes it can the partial vehicle registration number that allows our team to piece together a bigger evidence picture with our policing colleagues in the local teams and our CID teams.

“We also work closely with our colleagues in Northumbria, Cumbria and County Durham, to target those nominals committing crime both in Scotland and North East England. This daily information and intelligence sharing, coupled with the excellent work that the Scottish Borders Partnership Against Rural Crime (SBPARC) do, is crucial to making our rural communities a place where people feel safe, empowering them to live, work and visit.”