EXCLUSIVE: MORE than two-thirds of Victoria’s farmers have been victims of theft, the largest-ever statewide rural crime survey has revealed.
More than a quarter of farms have been stolen from in the past year.
The Federation University study showed that almost 90 per cent of the property stolen from the agriculture sector has never been recovered.
Farmers have overwhelmingly pointed the finger at a lack of policing of rural crime, with half the 800 farmers surveyed saying their local police “lack the resources to adequately do their job”. Such is the lack of confidence in policing that as many as 3000 cases — 50 per cent of all rural thefts — go unreported to police.
Of all thefts, the most common were of equipment, tools, farm supplies and livestock.
The shocking findings are the latest to highlight the growing problem of farm crime.
A significant number of farmers with recent dealings with police walked away unsatisfied with their response.
Researcher Dr Alistair Harkness said his analysis of the responses showed the reasons for the lack of satisfaction with how police dealt with farm crime were “complicated” and compounded by factors such as the difficulty in recovering stolen items.
But the trend was “concerning” and indicated more work had to be done to strengthen relationships between police and farmers, he said.
On the back of the results, Dr Harkness, the Federation University’s criminal justice program leader, called for an “urgent boost” to police funding and farm theft training, and for Victoria to follow the example of NSW’s “well resourced, dedicated rural crime team”.
The UK and US also had similar, equally successful models, he said.
“I have not seen these kind of results before, where (Victorian) farmers are reporting that after a recent encounter with a police officer they are less satisfied with policing,” Dr Harkness said.
“It is difficult to recover stolen property from farms due to many factors, such as lack of eviden ce, but these results are concerning and show much consternation from farmers towards rural policing.”
SHEEP DUFFING VICTIM WANTS STOCK SQUAD BACK
Dr Harkness said the survey showed the main reasons farmers did not report crimes were belief there was not enough evidence for police (more than 53 per cent of respondents), difficulties showing a crime occurred (49 per cent) and belief police would do nothing (40 per cent).
The survey results come as livestock thieves continue to run rampant in Victoria, with few successful convictions against perpetrators.
Recent crime figures reveal sheep thefts have hit a five-year high, with 150 cases reported to police in the 12 months to June — well up on the 92 reports in the previous year.
According to the Crime Statistics Agency, while overall property thefts were slightly down — 2931 for the financial year compared to 3080 the year before — theft of horses, wool, pumps and solar panels significantly rose.
Horse thefts doubled, with 10 reports in the year to June compared with five the year before, while wool thefts almost doubled from 10 to 18.
There were 21 reports of stolen solar panels, compared with 10 the year before; 27 thefts of keys, up from 11, and pumps, up from 24 to 38 cases.
The theft categories that fell included firearms and ammunition, down to 49 reports from 66 last year.
ALISTAIR HARKNESS: CAN’T COP RURAL CRIME ANY MORE
Victorian Farmers Federation livestock president Leonard Vallance recently installed an $8000 24-hour camera surveillance system after discovering a drone over his Ouyen farm at night.
He said another Mallee farmer and a farmer at Corryong recently told him they had also seen drones coming on to their property “looking into sheds for stuff to come back and steal”.
Mr Vallance said he was not shocked by the study’s results.
“Farmers do have a lack of faith in police; they’re not adequately funded, we’re not having a go at the police as such, but the funding,” he said.
“The answer is money. Twenty-five per cent of Victoria’s population lives in regional Victoria, but do we get 25 per cent of government spending? No way — and it is not just in policing but in all sorts of areas that contribute to this; less social support we know leads to more criminal activity.”
Police Minister Lisa Neville said Victoria Police had officers who specialised in farm crime and agricultural issues located across Victoria.
“I want to reassure victims that Victoria Police have the tools and resources they need to keep rural and regional communities safe,” Ms Neville said.
“Victoria Police is currently undertaking a review of their approach to farm crime to ensure that we have the best model to identify and disrupt these crimes.
“We’ve also funded the biggest increase in police numbers in Victoria Police’s history with 3135 new officers rolling out which will further enhance the ability of police to respond to any form of crime including farm crime.”
The Victoria Police Livestock and Farm Crime Specialists Group, which was established in 2011, has about 80 Agricultural Liaison Officers, selected based on expertise, to deal with livestock theft and farm-related crime.
Source: weekly times