EXCLUSIVE: 98% of rural crime in Suffolk has been left unsolved since 2022
Suffolk Police says it would like to see more investment to help tackle rural crime
We can exclusively reveal that 98% of rural crime in Suffolk has been left unsolved since 2022.
Our Freedom of Information request (FOI) revealed in the last three years, 157 reported crimes did not result in a conviction.
The types of rural crimes recorded by Suffolk Police since 2022
The outcomes of rural crime from Suffolk Police since 2022
Recognising that there are challenges in addressing rural crime, such as a lack of eyewitnesses, Suffolk Police is now calling for people to support its investigations.
Sergeant Chris Green is the force lead for wildlife and heritage crime.
We asked him what motivates rural crime: "There's a huge demand at the moment for petrol power tools, in part due to instability in Europe.
"That's why the demand is so high.
"It's the old classic really, when the demand is there, unfortunately, that type of crime will spike, and it follows trends in that regard."
We asked Sergeant Green why the success rate in convicting rural crime has only been 2% in the last 3 years.
He explained that due to the crimes being committed in the countryside, there are fewer resources available for the police to base their investigations on: "When something happens in the middle of a town centre, there's a very good chance there'll be eyewitness testimony, good quality CCTV, people may have filmed it on their phones.
"Comparatively, if you're stealing an oil bazaar on a farmyard at two in the morning, unless the farmers are very security savvy, the chances of the crime being solved are not as high.
"... And there are less opportunities to explore for forensics, for CCTV, all the normal channels that we would go down to to solve a crime."
"That might have affected those figures"
But he did also tell us that these figures, may not be an accurate representation of the amount of rural crime taking place in Suffolk.
"They are (the crimes) recorded in our crime system, which is called Athena.
"So when they're inputted, there will be boxes on there which will need the officer to tick, so something like rural crime would be a box that they would input, for example.
"So there is a possibility in how accurate those figures are. If you're purely trying to isolate rural might, it may be a little bit more tricky where someone may have missed a ticked box essentially. So that might have affected those figures."
"That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle we're looking for"
Sergeant Green wanted to reassure the public they do have officers placed in the more rural areas of the county and encourage anyone to get in touch if they see something suspicious.
"It's one of the things we always plead: if you see a suspicious vehicle hanging around your farm or something, please call us.
"There are also other ways of reporting things online, because that little piece of information could be the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle we're looking for."
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