RURAL crime workshops are underway across New South Wales to provide practical solutions and education for farmers and regional communities.

The workshops by the NSW Farmers’ Association and NSW Police Force will take place across the state in September and October.

Rural crime costs millions of dollars every year and has economic, social and personal impacts for people living in the country.

The NSW Police Force Rural Crime Prevention Team will visit 26 locations around regional NSW to present workshops designed specifically for farmers and primary producers.

NSW Farmers’ president James Jackson said preventing rural crime is an integral step to building a long-term prosperous agricultural sector and vibrant regional communities.

“For the first seven months of 2018, the cost of cattle and sheep reported stolen by farmers was $1.3 million.

“These workshops will provide farmers with practical solutions and education that will better equip them to identify and report any criminal activity to Police.

“NSW Farmers would like to thank NSW Police for their passion in tackling this issue,” Mr Jackson said.

The workshops will help farmers assess the security of their property to reduce and prevent the risk of rural crime. This includes options to increase security infrastructure, ways to improve asset protection and surveillance to reduce trespass and new ways to report crime.

NSW Police assistant commissioner Geoff McKechnie said the workshops offer all farmers a unique opportunity to come together and chat to the newly restructured Rural Crime Prevention team in a relaxed environment.

“A great outcome from these workshops will see strengthened community engagement with NSW Police across regional NSW to tackle this type of crime,” he said.

The roll-out of these workshops is made possible by the NSW Government’s Community Safety Grant which supports local crime prevention projects, particularly in disadvantaged, regional and remote areas to improve community safety across the state.

Department of Justice’s Office for Police executive officer Adrian McKenna said NSW Farmers’ Association was granted more than $165,000 toward delivering a series of tackling rural crime workshops specifically designed for farmers and primary producers.

Through the workshops, NSW Farmers and NSW Police aim to increase engagement and decrease crime rates across rural communities across New South Wales.

Click here for details on the workshop locations and venues.