Agriculture, Justice Departments Join To Fight Rural Crime

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) is to join forces with the Department of Justice to help tackle the problem of rural crime in Northern Ireland.

DARD is to become a member of the new Rural Crime Unit Steering Group, following a meeting between Justice Minister David Ford and Agriculture Minister Michelle O'Neill.

"The Ministers met to discuss rural crime and agreed that information, such as that in DARD’s Animal and Public Health Information System, as well as the advice and the expertise of officials would benefit the unit and ultimately rural communities throughout Northern Ireland," a statement from the Executive said.

The recently established Rural Crime Unit was announced by the Justice Minister in May.

It comprises a partnership between the PSNI, NFU Mutual and the Department of Justice.

Minister Ford said: "The Rural Crime Unit, which includes an analyst dedicated solely to rural crime, is already working hard to identify trends and patterns of rural crime. It provides a province wide picture and supplements the work that goes on day in, day out, in local police teams throughout Northern Ireland.

"Crime reduction and prevention are key priorities for the Unit. This will be achieved by analysing all the relevant data across Northern Ireland and targeting resources and initiatives to best effect. I welcome the involvement of DARD in the Unit’s Steering Group. The data they hold and the experience they will bring to the table will be incredibly valuable to tackling rural crime.

"I want to thank Michelle O’Neill and her officials for their continued cooperation. We have seen many examples of strong partnership working which delivered initiatives such as FarmWatch and the Rural Crimestoppers campaign. We had a useful discussion today about a wide range of issues and it is clear that the commitment is there from both DARD and DOJ to continue to improve community safety in rural areas."

Minister O’Neill added: "In particular today we discussed the concerning increase in livestock theft across the north. Such theft and associated identification and movement offences are not only criminal activities they also undermine animal traceability and directly threaten the animal health of our livestock. The Rural Crime Unit will support efforts to tackle these thefts and track down the criminals behind them."

(IT/MH)