£820k-worth of property recovered in first year of dedicated rural crime team
Dozens of arrests have been made by Cumbria Police
Dozens of people have been arrested and £820,000-worth of property has been recovered in the first year of a dedicated team to tackle rural crime in Cumbria.
There has also been a decrease in quadbike thefts.
Cumbria Constabulary says the team has also seized 17 vehicles, searched 34 properties and executed 10 warrants.
Sergeant Amanda McKirdy, from the rural crime team, said: "We celebrated our one year as a team continuing our aims of disrupting criminality and engaging with our rural communities.
"We attended the Westmorland Show then supported both regional and national weeks of action - Operation Checkpoint and Alliance aimed at disrupting rural and vehicle crime.
"We arrested several males, recovered stolen property and uplifted vehicles for use in crime, searched dwellings and other premises at various locations in Durham and secured bail conditions."
Operation Alliance took place in the week commencing the 16th September, and was a national policing operation to target vehicle crime.
Four people were arrested in the North East of England.
Another operation, Checkpoint, took place on 14th September, during which the rural crime team stopped 76 vehicles and searched four.
Three people from Durham were also arrested in connection with rural thefts across Cumbria and North Yorkshire.
Chief Inspector Natalie Jukes, the force's rural crime lead, said: “The introduction of the dedicated rural crime team supporting the wider constabulary in targeting rural crime has been a success in the reduction in reports and property recovered.
“The team have worked hard over the last year to reach out to our rural communities, conducing visits and giving rural crime prevention advice. This has given us a wider understanding of the issues they are facing and how we can deter and target criminals.
“Rural crime is not victimless, the theft of machinery, fuel and other rural and wildlife offences have a negative impact on our communities financially and emotionally.
“We continue to ask our communities to work with us by being vigilant, reporting crimes and any suspicious activity.
“Continuing to report this information helps build a picture of the issue and direct our resources to that area and make it a hostile environment for criminals.”
Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, David Allen, added: “Cumbria is a rural county so it’s imperative that tackling and preventing rural crime is a priority."