Majority of rural people think reporting crime 'a waste of time'

The majority of rural communities see crime as a significant problem in their area but around half believe police don't take crime seriously, a new survey has revealed.

According to an annual report by the Countryside Alliance, 97% of those surveyed from across the UK said that rural crime was a 'significant' issue in their community.

The survey, of more than 2000 people, found that 49% did not think the police took rural crime seriously and 90% had not seen any officers in their area in the past week. Asked if they felt police could be relied on 'to be there when you need them', only 16% agreed.

Meanwhile, more than half of those who had reported crimes to police said they were dissatisfied with the response from officers.

Almost two-thirds (63%) of those who did not report a crime they experienced to the police said they didn’t do so because it 'was a waste of time'.

The most common crimes experienced were fly-tipping, farm machinery theft and trespassing, with other frequent offences including hare poaching and actions relating to animal rights activism.

Many respondents also claimed they had been forced to install crime prevention measures, such as security lights, CCTV, extra security on vehicles, while others have opted for buying guard dogs due to an increased fear of crime.

A minority (34%) rated the police in their area as 'good' or 'excellent' in 2022, which was down from 47% in 2020.

Director of policy at the Countryside Alliance, Sarah Lee, said the results suggested that both faith and trust in the police to tackle rural crime had dropped in the past year.

"Rural communities have for a long time been resigned to the fact they will receive a poorer level of response from the police when they have a crime committed against them and this is just unacceptable," she said.

"However, it comes against a back drop of increasing and competing pressures on rural police forces who are themselves facing challenges around funding.

“As the review of the police funding formula gets underway this year, we urgently call upon the Government to level up rural policing, by increasing funding and resources to rural policing teams”.

A Home Office spokesperson said the government was 'committed to driving down rural crime'. “Whether someone lives in the countryside or a town or city, they should have the same peace of mind when going about their daily lives, and they should get the same high-quality service from the police if they fall victim to a crime."

They added that the rural and wildlife crime strategy published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council 'ensures policing and its partners can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats which predominantly affect rural communities.'

However, when speaking to the 'I' newspaper, opposition parties responded by arguing it shows rural communities were 'at the end of the queue' when it came to policing, and that trust in the police had 'totally collapsed'.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, Alistair Carmichael, said that rural areas were always at the end of the queue when it came to crime. “The very least people should expect is for the police to attend and investigate a crime but even that is not guaranteed," he said.

“These figures show just how concerned people are about crime, including in rural communities across the country,” added Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, for Labour.

“Labour is the party of law and order. The next Labour government will deliver a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, with 13,000 extra neighbourhood police and PCSOs and proper action to tackle antisocial behaviour.”