Police teams proactively patrol rural areas late at night to deter criminals

Police teams have been proactively patrolling rural areas late at night to deter criminals involved in offences such as burglary, poaching and hare coursing.

On Thursday night (9 October), officers from Basingstoke Rural Neighbourhoods Policing Team (NPT), the Country Watch Rural Crime Task Force and Roads Policing joined forces to patrol and stop vehicles in the southern and western parts of rural Basingstoke.

Throughout the evening there were multiple stops and checks conducted of suspicious vehicles in the area. The majority of these were all in order, however a Sprinter Van driver was stopped over concerns around his licence and enquiries continue on this.

Officers encountered a Honda CR-V of interest in the Mortimer area, which then failed to stop for police. Police also seized a Volkswagen Touareg which is suspected to be linked to rural non-dwelling burglaries in Hampshire, and for failing to stop for police over the border in Wiltshire.

Sergeant Rachel Marshall said: “High visibility patrol activity like this really makes a difference in deterring criminals and keeping rural communities safe, and this is evidenced by the lack of calls for service throughout the evening while officers covered a vast area in the north of the county.

“No arrests were made throughout the evening, however multiple vehicles were stopped and checked, and vehicles of interest to our ongoing burglary investigations were encountered by officers.

“One of these vehicles was seized by police, whilst another failed to stop and left the area. We will continue to patrol and make enquiries as part of efforts to deter offenders from committing crime in Hampshire, and to detect crimes that have already been reported.

“We are grateful for the support shown to police on Thursday night by a handful of our local gamekeepers, and we continue to urge our rural communities to keep reporting crime and suspicious activity to us so we can target our resources accordingly.” 

If you have any information about rural crime in your area, you can report this to police by calling 101, or using the reporting tool at www.hampshire.police.uk

Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their anonymous online form at crimestoppers-uk.org

Dial 999 if a crime is in progress, or in the event of an emergency.

If you are a member of DISC you can also use this platform to provide information to the police. If you have a business connection to the rural and wildlife environment, you may be eligible to be a member of DISC. Please email discreports@hampshire.police.uk