Rural crime initiative to prevent garden equipment theft

Lincolnshire Police is advising residents in rural areas to record details of their belongings in an initiative to tackle the rise in garden tool and equipment theft seen at this time of year.

Homes with insecure sheds and garages at remote properties are often targeted by thieves. The Rural Burglary Initiative has been organised by PC Paul French, a neighbourhood response officer, and he will be engaging the help of Neighbourhood Watch coordinators and police community support officers (PCSOs) from the local neighbourhood policing team to distribute letters containing crime-prevention advice and information about property marking. On the reverse of the letter is a form for residents to record details of all their equipment, such as lawnmowers, strimmers, high-value tools or any other valuable property.

“It’s all quite simple, really,” said PC French. “It’s about prevention, deterrent and recovery.

“We want to encourage residents to take the necessary steps to avoid the crime happening in the first place by remembering to keep shed and garage doors locked and to consider the use of shed alarms.

We want to promote the use of property marking techniques, such as UV, Smartwater and overt paints, and finally, we want to ensure that stolen items can be returned to their owners. Recording serial numbers and distinctive features and keeping that information safe really assists the police in identifying stolen property”.