A rural crime prevention event has been held in Linwood to tackle a recent rise in high-value farm machinery and equipment theft.
The safety and security event took place at the Donald Malcolm Heritage Centre on Friday, October 27, in conjunction with the launch of Police Scotland's Greater Glasgow Partnership Against Rural Crime (GG PARC).
Those who attended were able to view a Police Scotland digger and a large animal rescue demonstration.
Among the organisations that attended were Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, National Farmers Union, Neighbourhood Alert, Prime Secure, DeterTech, CanTrack, SEPA, Sandstone Communications, British Horse Society and the University of Glasgow.
Constable Fiona Drummond, a crime prevention officer with a specialism in rural crime, told The Gazette: "Our Greater Glasgow PARC is the latest addition at a local level, attached to the national Scottish PARC which is lead by a multi-agency partnership involving key organisations collectively working together to prevent, reduce and tackle rural crime, particularly from the ever-increasing threat posed by serious organised crime groups throughout Scotland.
"Within the Rural Crime Strategy, seven priorities include agricultural, forestry, plant and quad bike theft, equestrian incidents, fly-tipping, fuel and timber theft, heritage crime, livestock offences and hare coursing.
"The purpose of the event was to invite anyone involved in agriculture or construction where they could speak with experts and organisations to increase their knowledge and understanding of target hardening for the aforementioned seven priorities.
"In addition, increase the attendees confidence and provide guidance on firearms licencing, dealing with work-related accidents and safe storage of combustible materials."
Constable Drummond said that, within the last six months, there had been an increase in high-value farm machinery and equipment theft, with fuel theft beginning to increase again with the winter season approaching.
She added: "The impact of having fuel stolen from a rural home or from a digger working on local road works can have detrimental effects.
"This can result in no heating into homes which may take weeks to replenish, road works taking longer to complete to the annoyance to the public with any profits from the job potentially eliminated.
"Machinery theft can lead to financial and mental health implications as replacements can take months.
"We can never eliminate crime altogether, however we all have a part to play in minimising risk. We encourage reporting of all suspicious persons and/or vehicles.
"Review your security perimeters regularly to ensure there are no weaknesses which can lead to unwanted visitors. Consider property marking and purchasing Secure by Design (SBD - police accredited scheme) products to further target harden against theft."
For more information about the work of Scottish PARC, visit scottishparc.co.uk.
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