Police in York are inviting rural farms and businesses to boost their security, with a free crime prevention pack and security survey.
Officers have identified hundreds of York business premises that are located on industrial estates or away from built-up areas, and over the coming weeks will be sending them a self-assessment questionnaire and information about crime prevention. Dubbed Operation Woodchip for rural businesses, and Operation Woollen for farms, the campaign is the biggest rural crime prevention drive the city has ever seen. In total throughout York, Operation Woodchip will target more than 160 rural businesses, and Operation Woollen will target more than 230 farms. The crime prevention packs include a security survey and the offer of a visit from a crime prevention champion a PCSO from their local Neighbourhood Policing Team with specific training in business security.
Although the North Yorkshire Police area is one of the safest places in the country, and York is a very safe city in which to do business, isolated and rural areas are frequently targeted by cross-border criminals, who travel from outside the North Yorkshire border to commit crime. PC Neil Slater, of the York Community Safety Hub, said: This campaign is all about making sure that we offer the same level of service to rural businesses that those in more urban areas receive. Vulnerability is one of our key areas of focus, and many rural premises are vulnerable because of their isolated location so it s important that we do everything we can to protect them.
The challenge of policing a large rural area means that we need to use a variety of tools and channels to keep people and businesses safe. We can offer businesses a crime prevention pack, sent through the post, as well as a free security survey by a trained expert. In addition, we will be promoting dot peen property marking, and encouraging businesses to sign up to the North Yorkshire Community Messaging system.
To find out more about Operations Woodchip and Woollen, contact PC Neil Slater or PCSO Melanie Parkin by calling North Yorkshire Police on the 101 non-emergency number. Dot peen marking involves using a tungsten carbide-tipped pin to indent an object with dots to create a visible, permanent unique number. The unique number will be entered onto the national Immobilise property register database, vastly increasing the chances that it will be reunited with its owner if it is lost or stolen. Look out for drop-in property marking sessions on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #whatisdotpeen.
North Yorkshire Community Messaging is a free system that lets people register to receive the latest crime notifications and community news in their neighbourhoods.
People can register or download the free app for Apple and Android devices via www.nycm.co.uk1.
Last modified: September 21, 2016
References
- ^ www.nycm.co.uk (www.nycm.co.uk)