Hampshire farmers encouraged to sign up to new rural crime platform

Hampshire farmers and growers are being encouraged to sign up to a platform that enables them to report rural crime and suspicious activity easily.

DISC is a new initiative used by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary that enables farmers and rural communities to share information.

The system allows users to add photos and relevant details, with all the information becoming rapidly available to police, more quickly than reports made by phone.

DISC also issues alerts to those in rural communities about suspicious people and vehicles moving around the county.

Hampshire NFU adviser James FitzGerald, who is encouraging farmers to sign up to the platform, said it was vital that every suspicious activity was logged.

"The force, for this year, has funding for two analysts to look at patterns of crime, including those in rural areas," he added.

"We must ensure that Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has a true picture of crime so that it can allocate appropriate levels of resources."

Data analysis from such reports are important as it helps the police to identify hot spot areas of concern, including a breakdown of the different types of rural crimes.

It comes as recently published figures by NFU Mutual show a sharp rise in rural crime as the cost of living crisis hits the countryside.

And according to Hazel Cross, Hampshire Constabulary's Country Watch coordinator for Hampshire, only 30% of rural crime actually gets reported to police.

"If we do not know about it, and it is not recorded on our reporting platforms we are unable to track patterns and allocate our resources effectively," she said.

"Unreported incidents and crimes do not get included in our statistics and data analysis, therefore local rural policing teams and Country Watch could be missing out on vital funding to support and resource these areas of your community."

Farmers are being encouraged to register for the DISC app to join the Hampshire Rural Crime Partnership, by emailing discreports@hampshire.police.uk.