Farmers to use police drones to tackle rural crime

South Yorkshire Police has been allocated extra funding to tackle rural crime

Farmers will be given drones by police as part of a series of measures to tackle rural crime.

South Yorkshire Police has launched a new initiative to tackle specific issues in rural communities, including anti-social behaviour, theft, vandalism, fly-tipping, criminal damage and wildlife crime.

As part of the project, officers who are specially trained in wildlife crime will also work alongside residents and community groups.

South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has allocated £443,000 to the rural crime initiative, but one farmer said he would prefer to see the money spent on employing more police officers.

Among the crime fighting measures proposed is the purchase of drones, which would be owned and deployed by farmers, according to a report prepared for the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel.

The money would also pay for physical barriers like reinforced concrete, CCTV cameras and automatic number plate recognition cameras.

Police could also security mark plant machinery and an alerts system to more effectively track incidents could be rolled out.

Russell Toothill has a farm near Doncaster and said there is currently an abandoned 4x4 vehicle in one of his fields, which he believes was left by poachers.

He said: "Anything the police gives us to tackle crime would be welcome but they lack manpower and that's particularly evident on a weekend when resources are moved to town and city centres to deal with the night-time economy.

"The police need more manpower because devices can't work unless there are officers behind them.

"I security mark everything but if the police don't have enough security readers or officers to check on stolen items, it's no good."

The report for the police and crime panel said the initiative should improve community confidence and safety.

"Targeted interventions will help protect farms and small enterprises from theft and vandalism, reducing financial losses and disruption," the report said.

"Increased collaboration between South Yorkshire Police and rural residents will foster stronger relationships and trust and investment in equipment and technology will improve response times and effectiveness.

"Officers will work in close co-ordination with neighbourhood policing teams across the county, many of whom are additionally trained as wildlife crime officers."

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