On the evening of the 18 January, police officers and landowners joined forces to tackle rural crime.
Approximately 70 officers dedicated to the operation and 35 landowners, farmers and gamekeepers spread out over South Oxfordshire, the Vale of White Horse and West Berkshire overnight.
The landowners acted as spotters, calling in any suspicious activity to a designated operator who then deployed police officers who remained static close by. The aim was to detect and prevent crime as well as to gather intelligence on the people who are frequenting rural areas and committing these crimes. The crimes of concern range from theft of livestock, metal and diesel thefts to criminal damage on farm land, hare coursing and poaching.
Throughout the operation a male was arrested in West Berkshire, approximately 30 stop and searches were carried out and one vehicle seized in Chievely.
On Thursday 19th January, three males were seen by police with a lurcher dog seen chasing rabbits in a field in Longworth, Abingdon. The males were arrested for Hunting Offences and bailed until 11th March 2012.
Overnight between 24th and 25th January, a local Game Keeper reported poachers in a field in Sparsholt Firs, Wantage. Following a two hour search police located a vehicle and stayed with it until three male suspects with dogs appeared. The males admitted hunting rabbits on land where they did not have permission to do so. All three were reported for the offence of hunting wild mammals with dogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment