Mid-South Canterbury Police are hoping the 'Police' branded tractor will act as an 'a-tractor' for farmers as they seek to address rural crime issues at the Southern Canterbury A & P Show being held at Waimate on 21 November 2015.
Senior Sergeant Dylan Murray said the idea behind the concept came from conversations Inspector Paul Carpenter had at last year's National Fieldays at Mystery Creek.
Police always have a low-key presence at the November event, but this year we are seeking to promote crime prevention initiatives with the rural community.
We hope to promote discussions about things like rural road deaths; drug activity on farms; family violence; commercial vehicle obligations; stock theft; firearms; illegal hunting and promoting existing partnerships such as the one we have with Crime-stoppers; Federated Farmers with the "Shut the Gate" campaign SNAP; FMG & AgriHQ.
Rural areas present unique challenges for Police such as longer travelling distances, lack of cell phone and radio networks, coupled with smaller numbers of staff required to do more in depth engagement with smaller communities.
Tactics that may work in large urban centres may not work that well in a rural setting, but the key thing is, Police need to know about incidents and rural residents need to feel comfortable reporting issues to us, we need to move away from the mind set of; "oh the Police are too busy, I won't trouble them."
Partners in this initiative hoped the tractor would attract widespread discussion and help Police help the rural community shut the gate on rural crime.
More information on rural prevention: http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/personal-and-community-advice/rural-hub
Dylan Murray
Senior Sergeant F801
Area Prevention Manager
New Zealand Police
03 9715198
