Last week, policing teams across East Hampshire took part in Operation Arcadian, a day of action and community engagement with a focus on targeting rural crime.

The Eastern Area Crime Team worked in conjunction with Country Watch officers and colleagues from partner agencies BT Open Reach, Trading Standards and Environmental Health to visit six scrap metal dealers across East Hampshire, Havant and Portsmouth. It was to check compliance and engagement following previous reports of theft of BT Open Reach copper cable, which was causing significant financial impact and damage to community infrastructure. Police engaged with the owners of these sites and checked compliance, with Trading Standards taking on any identified breaches of license conditions.

The Licensing team carried out a number of visits to licensed premises to engage with patrons, offer reassurance and gather community intelligence. Information obtained as part of these visits led to the arrest of a 26 year-old man from Alresford, who was wanted on a fail to appear court warrant in relation to a theft in Southampton.

The Proactive Roads Policing team patrolled the rural roads in East Hampshire, including the arterial A3 corridor, targeting vehicle offences and vehicles linked to crime. As a result, the team issued a fixed penalty ticket for driving whilst using a mobile phone and seized two vehicles in the Liphook area for being driven without insurance.

The Neighbourhood Policing Teams carried out shoplifting operations in the towns of Petersfield and Alton, targeting prolific shoplifters and engaging with shops around security and CCTV. Whilst no arrests were made, a number of individuals were stop-checked and community intelligence was submitted, which helps police build a better picture of hotspot areas.

The Modern Slavery and Immigration Crime Team visited a number of car washes across the rural communities and ensured that those working in these environments were not subject to any offences linked to modern day slavery.

Police also had an additional number of dedicated officers patrolling the rural communities, who responded to incidents in the area including a report of ‘badger baiting’. They also targeted a number of outstanding suspects for offences and, as a result, arrested a 54 year-old man from Bordon on suspicion of holding a person in slavery or servitude. He has been conditionally bailed whilst enquiries continue.

The teams engaged with the community and gathered a number of intelligence submissions for further development.

Chief Inspector for East Hampshire, CI Alex Charge said: “It is an absolute priority that we put an ongoing, dedicated effort into improving our ability to tackle crime in rural areas of East Hants, and this day of action is only one of many we have planned going forward.

“We are aware that crimes in rural communities can often go under-reported, but we know that it can have a significant impact on residents and business owners in these areas.

“Frustratingly, we cannot be everywhere at once, and as such we rely on members of the rural community to be our eyes and ears across this vast part of the county. This day of action gave our officers a chance to speak to residents and workers who were able to provide us with key pieces of information, which strengthens our intelligence picture.

“Please keep reporting information you have to us. Every piece of information you provide us with aids us in our ability to disrupt the people involved in crime.”

If you see something suspicious, please report it to police as soon as possible so teams can respond accordingly. You can report via online, or by calling 101. If a crime is in progress, dial 999 immediately.