A Norfolk police operation to crack down on thieves targeting the farming community has seen a number of recent arrests.
Thanks to prompt reports from the public and proactive policing in rural hot spots, police have disrupted hare coursers and metal thieves operating in the county.
Operation Randall was launched by Norfolk Constabulary three months ago to crack down on rural crime by improving information passed between police and local communities.
Successes in the past month include:
* In early February, three men from Cambridgeshire were arrested for being involved in hare coursing. This offence has been on the increase in Cambridgeshire and, although Norfolk has had very few reports, very often people claim to be hare coursing or similar to cover up other criminal activities. This type of crime has, in the past, been most prevalent out in the west Norfolk towards the Lincolnshire/ Cambridgeshire border.
* Throughout February, industrial as well as residential properties experienced metal thefts. However, the intelligence and information coming in on this type of crime has been excellent and on 22 February, a 51 year old Norwich man was charged with the theft of lead from a premises in Norwich and in the Great Yarmouth area, a 26 year old man was arrested and subsequently charged with the theft of copper.
* This type of information also led to the arrest of a man from Lincolnshire who was found with a considerable amount of catalytic converters, batteries and metal in the rear of his van which we believe had been stolen from various locations around Norfolk. Some excellent early reporting by members of the public had led to the stop on his van and the subsequent search led to his arrest. He remains on police bail pending further enquiries.
* Multi agency roadside checks have been completed across the county, with the west of the county seeing a 30 per cent reduction in crime over a three week period โ this reduction has been sustained following our operations. Further meetings have been held with partners and we are developing even more intelligence links to target individuals and groups who are common to all agencies involved.
Detective Superintendent Nick Dean, who is leading the operation, welcomed the results.
He said: โThe increase in metal, heating oil and catalytic converter thefts can be attributed to organised individuals coming in to the area with what can be described as a shopping list. However, the increased awareness in Operation Randall, especially by many organisations operating daily in rural locations, as well as local communities, has provided us with some real opportunities to act quickly and stop these potential offenders travelling through the county.
โI am very pleased with the early months of Operation Randall and in particular the interest that has been generated by various organisations who have contacted me to either give presentations on the Operation or a general overview. Members of the rural community have also supported us by coming forward with information, suspicious activity and specific intelligence which we have acted upon immediately or has helped us to form part of a wider picture."
