Police have been conducting proactive operations in the county to target rural criminals – most recently with an operation overnight on Thursday 27 February in the north and east of Hampshire.

Our rural and wildlife crime specialists in the Country Watch team often team up with other police units for operations such as this, which allows teams to combine their skills and efforts to disrupt offenders who are active under the cover of darkness at this time of year.

Offenders will typically exploit the darker evenings in winter to target fields, isolated communities, and rural estates to commit crimes such as burglary, hare coursing and poaching.

During the operation – which ran overnight from the Thursday into the early hours of Friday 28 February – Country Watch were joined by neighbourhood officers from Yateley and Tadley, the Neighbourhood Enforcement Team from Basingstoke, the Priority Crime Team from Aldershot, officers from Surrey Police, District Policing Team officers from Winchester, firearms officers and the dog unit.

As a collective effort, police covered a vast area of the county with focused patrol activity in Test Valley, Rural Basingstoke and Hart, and East Hampshire. This was intelligence-led, focusing on the areas we know criminals have targeted or are likely to target.

Patrols were not limited to major road networks however – officers paid close attention to back country lanes that we know offenders use to try and avoid detection. A number of vehicles and individuals were stopped and searched out in isolated rural areas, however no offences were identified.

Deterrence is key to keeping rural communities safe, and we’re pleased that there were no calls for the teams to deal with any criminal activity whilst the high visibility police presence was in place throughout the night. 

Inspector Cath MacDonald said: “We’re starting to see a steady decline in reports of offences such as poaching and hare coursing, however we will not be complacent as we know these criminals are still active in Hampshire and over the county borders.

“These offenders relentlessly target and intimidate innocent people who live and work in rural areas, and these crimes can seriously impact their livelihoods.

“The Country Watch team use intelligence to track and monitor the nature of crimes being reported to us, and map the hotspot areas so we can target our patrols and operations. This continues as the seasons change, and offenders change their tactics or switch their focus.

“As such, we will continuously carry out proactive operations throughout the year to stop criminals in their tracks and prevent offences occurring in the first place.

“We need your support, however. We need the crime reports and intelligence from you so we can get a clear picture of the harm being caused, the individuals involved, the types of vehicles being used, and the areas being targeted. Tell us everything you know, including any suspicious people or vehicles operating in your neighbourhood, or damaged and burnt out vehicles abandoned in rural areas.

“The more we know, the stronger our intelligence picture and our ability to disrupt the people involved in crime will be.”

If you have information about crime or suspicious activity in your area, please report this to police on 101, or via the report 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 

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