Cheshire residents help shape county’s rural crime strategy

Cheshire’s police and crime commissioner, David Keane, is thanking Cheshire residents who have taken the time to give feedback on Cheshire Constabulary’s new rural crime strategy.

 It follows a number of events held across the county this month to give residents in rural areas the opportunity to have their say prior to its publication.

The strategy outlines the priorities for rural officers and sets out the ways police in Cheshire will tackle rural and wildlife crime from now until 2021.

It has been developed in response to the local rural crime survey conducted in Cheshire over the summer and the recent national rural crime survey.

As part of the events, the commissioner and Cheshire Police’s rural crime lead, chief inspector Simon Meegan, gave an overview of the results of both surveys and explained how they have shaped the key priorities in the strategy.

Residents at the events in Macclesfield, Warrington, Nantwich and Tattenhall also had the opportunity to talk to the commissioner and local officers about issues specific to their area.

David said: “This strategy is about residents who live in rural areas and how we can make their communities safer, so it was vitally important that we presented the draft strategy to them before it was published.

“Whilst relatively safe, our rural communities have their own unique crime related issues which can have a significant impact on residents or farming and businesses. It’s imperative for police to be specially equipped and trained to tackle these issues.

It was great to hear a wide range of views from residents across the county in regards to how we can improve the policing response to issues in rural areas and I look forward to incorporating their views into the final strategy.”

he commissioner will now work with the constabulary to craft a final draft of the strategy which he is planning on launching during the national Rural Crime Day of Action on Thursday 8 November.