Humberside Police strengthens rural task force, which covers the Bridlington and district area

Assistant Chief Constable Darren Wildbore announced the news as he laid out plans to tackle the three main concerns of the rural community.

These issues are:

•Rural Acquisitive Crime – burglary and theft

•Rural Criminal Damage – damage to property and land

•Hare coursing – the barbaric ‘sport’ of setting dogs on wild hares

ACC Wildbore said: “Over the years Humberside Police has worked tirelessly to tackle rural crime and helped to make our rural communities feel safer with a focus on disruption of criminal activities, apprehension, arrest, charging and prosecution of offenders.

“All this is with the aim of deterring others from committing similar offences, sending out a clear message that rural, wildlife and heritage crime will not be tolerated in our area.

“Since 2021 our Rural Task Force has made a huge impact on rural crime in the force area and provided support and advice to not only our community but their colleagues too.

“To support the achievement of these objectives we have invested in a further three Rural Task Force constables.

"I am confident that our dedicated task force, working alongside the Neighbourhood Police Teams and patrol officers and partner agencies that cover our rural communities, we will continue to build on the reduction in rural crime and make our residents feel as safe now as they have ever been.”

The Chief Inspector who leads on rural crime for Humberside Police is Chief Inspector Derek Hussain.

He said: “Rural crime is just like any crime except in a rural setting.

“In 2021 the Rural Task Force was introduced. We have now expanded this following the success of the team. The increased specialised officers will enhance our ability to tackle crime across the force and provide reassurance to our rural communities.

“Rural, wildlife and heritage crime does matter to us and we want people to feel confident in reporting their concerns to us. If you don’t report an issue, we don’t always know about it.

"Our rural communities are our eyes and ears, and we need people to call us and report their suspicions to us.”