Protecting Our Countryside: A collaborative approach

As Police and Crime Commissioner, I am committed to ensuring that every part of Dorset — from our towns to our most remote hamlets — receives the protection and support it deserves. Tackling rural crime requires more than just policing — it demands genuine partnership. I am proud to support and encourage the close collaboration between Dorset Police, local farmers and landowners, parish councils, rural businesses, and both local and national organisations. Together, we are building a united front against those who seek to target our countryside. 

In this newsletter, I’d like to tell you about some of the joint initiatives, operations, and community efforts that are helping to make Dorset’s rural areas safer and more resilient. Whether it’s sharing intelligence, improving security, or raising awareness, our collective efforts are key to delivering long-term solutions. 

Throughout 2024, my office worked with Dorset Police to support farmers through prevention with DNA marking kits, expanded the Rural Watch network, and enhanced the force’s connection to rural communities through the Rural Mounted Volunteers scheme. By working in partnership, we are delivering justice across Dorset — from recovering stolen machinery and prosecuting wildlife crimes to increasing enforcement action against fly-tipping. These outcomes reflect a collective commitment to keeping Dorset’s countryside safe. 

Last year, I joined my fellow PCC’s to launch Operation Ragwort, targeting organised crime groups behind farm equipment theft, poaching, hare coursing, and more. This regional collaboration continues into 2025 and has seen a reduction in hare coursing cases in Dorset from 99 in 2022/23 to 59 in 2024/25. The force is working in partnership not only regionally, but also nationally and internationally, achieving impressive results — including the recovery of a digger from Poland, a caravan from Germany, and a tractor from Hampshire. 

In 2025, Dorset Police has continued its rural crime strategy, backed by the strong foundations laid in the previous year. The force has run numerous operations to combat rural crime, including a joint operation with the Environment Agency targeting vehicles suspected of being used in waste crime and metal theft. The Rural Mounted Volunteers remain active across Dorset, feeding information back to the police. In the last 12 months, the team has completed 837 hours of patrol over 311 duties. As a result of these patrols, volunteers submitted 27 intelligence reports, identified three potential poaching/hunting offences, reported 11 fly-tipping incidents to the council, and had 74 interactions with people in rural communities. 

The Dorset Partnership Against Rural Crime (PARC) continues to work to keep rural communities protected and recognised in policing efforts. Through Dorset PARC, I have worked with Dorset Council, to fund a fly-tipping enforcement officer. Since the role began, fixed penalty notices for waste crime have risen by 78%, vehicles linked to waste crime by 11%, and fly-tipping fines by 43% commercially and 600% for households. In July, Dorset PARC launched the Heritage Watch scheme to protect historic sites. Members have also been tracking recent heath fires, sharing intelligence on their causes, and raising awareness to help prevent these devastating events that harm our environment and wildlife. 

The partnership work to tackle rural crime extends beyond just the South West region. Across the country, people are working together to lobby the government for much-needed legislative changes that will make it easier to secure convictions and ensure tough sanctions for those found guilty of rural crimes. I signed the National Rural Crime Network’s petition for all power tools over the value of £300 to be forensically marked when sold. If you support the campaign, please lend your voice to the cause by signing the petition here. After seeing presentation as part of Dorset PARC on waste crime enforcement, I also lobbied local MPs to raise in parliament the need for better funding to support such work. 

More recently, I submitted evidence to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee in response to their call for evidence on serious and organised waste crime. I hope this submission will convince them that tackling rural waste crime should be a core part of government policing strategies and not treated as a low priority. I have previously lobbied in a similar manner, submitting evidence to the sentencing council around Hare Coursing Sentencing Guidelines. 

I hope this newsletter has shown how partnership working is taking place — not just across Dorset but across the country — to keep our countryside safe. Dorset PARC will continue to bring together partners to share best practice and create innovative solutions to support our countryside communities. I will continue to lobby government and amplify campaigns that strengthen the criminal justice system in both enforcement and prosecution of those who commit crimes impacting rural residents. Together, we can ensure that the countryside is a safe place to work, live, and visit. 

David Sidwick

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner