Police and Crime Commissioner calls for police to 'work smarter' with technology to combat rural crime gangs
She said policing has been ‘a bit slow’ to use technology
Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones has said technology needs to be used more by police forces to combat crime gangs in rural areas.
Mrs Jones made the comments in evidence given to an inquiry by the Home Affair Committee into the impact of serious and organised crime.
She told the committee about investments Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police have made into technology such as CCTV cameras for landowners and farmers as well as the country’s first community drone pilot, which allows trained volunteers to be deployed to provide drone support to live incidents in rural areas.
While these investments have increased crime charge rates, Mrs Jones also admitted there’s still a long way to go to combat crime across Hampshire.
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Mrs Jones said: “Rural communities are disproportionately affected due to their isolated nature. Gangs exploit them for numerous crimes including large-scale thefts of machinery, drug production and storage, gun smuggling, fly-tipping, poaching and human exploitation.
“We are never going to have enough police officers to target this. It’s about working smarter, not harder.
“Where policing across the UK has been a bit slow is in exploiting technology in rural communities.
“You can really see the difference in the bigger forces already using it, like Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and it helps that people living in rural communities are much more willing to work with police than those in urban areas.
“Partnership working is key. By working with willing communities we should be further exploiting technology to give them the tools they need to make them safer.
“We need to make sure we are adapting alongside the serious and organised crime gang model to make sure rural communities are not left vulnerable.”
Since she was elected Police and Crime Commissioner in 2021, Mrs Jones has introduced the Rural Crime Taskforce to focus on underpoliced areas, stationed officers in every rural area, opened front counters at rural police stations and invested in specialised vehicles, dedicated detectives and analysts to help combat crime.
You can watch the Police and Crime Commissioner’s full evidence here.