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Chief Constable fortnightly update to the Police and Crime Commissioner - 12 September 2025 |
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Dear Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, Across the summer, I have shared many of the successes we have seen under the Safer Streets Summer initiative which is aimed at improving the safety of urban areas in our county. I wanted to use this fortnight’s letter to illustrate how we are supporting our rural communities by both preventing and detecting the crimes which impact them the most. We know that rural crime has a lasting effect on its victims and creates a huge financial burden for businesses in Wiltshire and Swindon. Evidence and research also suggest that criminals who commit rural crimes are linked to national and international organised crime groups (OCGs). To tackle this, we have adopted a whole force approach – mobilising subject matter experts within our organisation, neighbourhood policing teams, our drone, dog and response units, CID and armed response units. As a result of this approach, along with developing our collaborations with partner agencies and neighbouring forces, we’ve seen significant operational successes. These include: 22 people arrested for Hare Coursing/Poaching since the start of 2025 – a 500% increase compared to the previous 12 months Of these 22, 15 were convicted and more than £3,000 in fines were issued Just last week we arrested four people on the A350 at Chippenham on suspicion of going equipped for hare coursing following a report of suspicious activity in a field in Burbage, near Marlborough, from a member of the public Five people were convicted in August for night poaching in Cholderton, near Amesbury. The Rural Crime Team, firearms and drone units, located the offenders hiding in a hedge. The offenders, who were not from Wiltshire, were given fines of more than £2,000. To further deter for those intent on committing crimes in our rural communities, we also need to ensure we are denying them access to our road network. This prevention work was illustrated last Friday when our Roads Policing Unit conducted a targeted operation to prevent criminal activity on our county’s roads. As a result: 103 drivers were stopped Five people were arrested 71 motorists were reported for speeding Five vehicles were seized, and one stolen vehicle was recovered. Successfully tackling rural crime is not something that the police can do alone. We need the support of our local communities and to work in partnership with other agencies. We have shared many examples of this cross-partnership approach as part of National Rural Crime Week which has been running across this week. Our communities can read more about the work your office does to protect our rural communities here. Examples of this multi-agency work includes: Operation Galileo – a nationwide operation where information is shared between forces enabling us to increase patrols in locations most likely to be affected by hare coursing Operation Ragwort – led by Deputy Chief Constable Mark Cooper, a collaboration formed between all police forces and Police and Crime Commissioners in the south-west and our bordering forces in the south. Its goal is to share intelligence and resources between the forces in Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Thames Valley in order to provide a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to rural crime. During the latest activity in March, we stopped over 100 vehicles Publicising our most wanted rural crime suspects – we will shortly be working in collaboration with CrimeStoppers to share photos of outstanding suspects linked to rural crimes with our communities. This will be a highly visible campaign and one we hope will both lead to arrests but also deter others from targeting our rural communities Multi-agency approach to illegal waste-carrying and fly-tipping – in the last six months, five joint initiatives with the Wiltshire Council Enforcement Team and the Environment Agency have resulted in more than 50 vehicles being stopped and checked, three were seized and Wiltshire Council has prosecuted five people during this period. You can read about the latest case here where our officer’s Body Worn Video secured the prosecution. As we are a rural county, we know it is important for all our officers to be skilled to spot the signs and investigate rural crimes. This is why we have given officers across multiple departments within our organisation additional training, including Scrap Metal Enforcement Training, Heritage Crime and Investigation Training, Wildlife Crime and Game Keeper Legislation and Land Management awareness. This cascade of professional development has resulted in an increase in dedicated operations taking place – including visits to scrap yards in the county - but is also encouraging our officers to consider utilising all available powers to prevent further criminality. This includes utilising Community Behaviour Orders against criminals post-conviction, as successfully introduced elsewhere in the country. I would encourage our communities to follow our social media channels and visit the Your Area section of our website to find out more about their Neighbourhood Policing Team and the action we have been carrying out in your area. Finally, it is not only our operational and neighbourhood policing teams who have a responsibility to forge ever closer links with our rural communities – I expect our senior leaders to do this too. On September 2, John Derryman, our Chief of Corporate Services and I, were delighted to accept the invitation from the Mayor of Malmesbury Councillor Stephen James to join him and others on part of the Athelstan 1100 - a guided pilgrimage walk from Malmesbury to Kingston upon Thames. This fantastic event not only took in some glorious rural scenery, but it also gave us the opportunity to meet those who live and work in our more rural areas. Thank you so much to everyone involved for making us feel so welcome. Kindest regards to you,
Catherine Roper Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police | ||
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