Industry Report Agriculture Crime Report

Methodology This research has been the first to explore the attitudes and beliefs of farmers towards farm crime, crime prevention, the police, and their insurers in E&W. Moreover, it has provided clarity on the real impact of farm crime upon farmers, validated by a quantitative survey with farmers across E&W, acting as an initial scoping survey to identify key aspects relating to farm crime that required further exploration. A range of qualitative methodologies provided this further exploration: interviews with PCCs and CPAs across four police forces in England, and case studies with farmers made up of focus groups, one-to-one semi-structured interviews, attitudinal statement analysis, and a comparative content analysis of media reports of farm crime and the discussions undertaken with farmers. The aim of this research was three-fold: 1. Firstly, to ascertain levels of farm crime across E&W, along with an insight into farmers’ attitudes towards, and confidence in, the police and insurers, how this affects levels of crime reporting, and how this compares to the approaches taken by the police towards farm crime; 2. Secondly, to explore the attitudes, feelings, and beliefs surrounding crime and crime prevention use among farmers of E&W; and 3. To establish the factors that influence the crime prevention decision-making process of farmers. Key Findings The main findings of this research are detailed, addressing the three key project aims. What are the levels of farm crime in E&W, and what is the impact of these crimes Levels: Figure 2: Survey participant victimisation and repeat victimisation levels •62.8%of participants had been a victim of crime, and of those 53.5%had been a victim on more than one occasion (Figure 2); •Small farms (those less than 250 Hectares), and isolated farms were more likely to be victimised more than once; •The presence of people on farm seems to make little difference in the likelihood of being a victim. 37.2% 62.8% 53.5% 46.5% Victim Not a Victim VictimOnce VictimMore Than Once