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Rural Crime Action Week ran last week across the country, and officers locally were out patrolling the county’s rural spaces, making arrests, stop checking vehicles, and supporting communities.
Criminals often operate under the cover of darkness and travel long distances to commit crimes in remote areas including hare coursing, poaching, burglary and theft of vehicles, plant and agricultural machinery.
The Country Watch Rural Crime Task Force joined forces with other teams last week including neighbourhood officers and units from our neighbours in Wiltshire Police, Dorset Police and Thames Valley Police to carry out cross border operations.
By having a large visible police presence in areas that are typically targeted by criminals, we hope to deter offenders from committing crime in the first place, but also have resources available to deal with any crimes in action.
Proactive stop checks on vehicles also enable us to disrupt offenders who are active in our rural communities.
A snapshot of what has occurred over the last week:
Four suspected hare coursers were in custody following reports of hare coursing in a field near Hayley Lane, Long Sutton. The suspects were all bailed while our investigation into this incident continues.Two men were arrested in Old Basing after a car failed to stop for police and attempted to make a getaway via a rural bridleway and farmland. Officers located the vehicle and seized a number of nitrous oxide canisters and balloons.Two men were arrested in a rural part of East Hampshire after officers found suspected stolen cooking oil in their van, as well as a knife. They were both bailed while our enquiries continue.Our rural crime taskforce located a stolen trailer in Liss, which was recovered and the owner was notified before he had even noticed it was missing.On Sunday 6 September, Hampshire officers supported Dorset Police with a hare coursing operation.On Tuesday 8 September, Hampshire officers supported Wiltshire Police with rural crime patrols along our county borders.On Thursday 9 September, our Country Watch Rural Crime Taskforce led an operation along Hampshire’s northern and western borders, with support from local neighbourhoods teams, as well as Wiltshire Police and Thames Valley Police. Patrols and vehicle checks were conducted in vast rural areas. One person was arrested for suspected drug driving.We also launched our pioneering community drone project which sees civilian volunteers support police efforts to tackle rural crime: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/hampshire/news/news/2026/september/hampshire--isle-of-wight-constabulary-pioneer-community-drone-project-to-tackle-rural-crime/
Our rural patrols and cross border operations will continue. We urge our rural communities to report information about crime and suspicious activity to police by calling 101, or using the form on www.hampshire.police.uk
If an incident is in progress, dial 999.
If you have a business connection to the rural environment in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, you can also download the EyesOn app which enables you to provide information directly to police, and also stay up to date on rural policing issues through news alerts: https://eyesonapp.com/download/
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