Thanks to funding brought into Dorset by my Office, farmers across the county are getting marking kits to put on their equipment to make them identifiable if stolen and recovered.

Nearly £24,000 of government money was secured to buy and distribute the Selecta DNA anti-theft packs, which has given our farmers increased confidence that stolen items can be more easily retrieved.

Officers regularly find items suspected as stolen but struggle proving it, so I encourage farmers to utilise the kits to help Dorset Police successfully identify goods and return them to their rightful owner. As well as liquid gel with unique DNA, each pack contains overt warning signs that property is marked.

Research shows using the theft packs reduces the possibility of theft by 83%, meaning the anti-theft packs not only increase the likelihood of reclaiming machinery but also act as a deterrent to a crime happening in the first place.

The Rural Crime Team has now handed out more than 750 kits to farmers from all corners of Dorset, while demonstrating how to mark machinery and log items on an online register. I recently joined officers out circulating the packs and heard first hand from a farmer the impact acquisitive crime has on them.

I am hugely impressed by our Rural Crime Team who through collaboration with counterparts in other Forces and agencies, have recovered £2.2 million worth of stolen equipment since 2022. This includes a digger retrieved located in Poland, a caravan from Germany and a tractor from Hampshire.

Alongside use of the anti-theft packs, there are various simple but effective preventative measures available to farmers to reduce the risk of becoming a victim, such as securing boundaries to their property, installing CCTV and fitting immobilisers onto vehicles.

For those looking for more advice on enhancing safety on their farm, please visit the Dorset Police website. If you want to find out more about the work that is happening to tackle Rural Crime across our county go online at Country Watch Dorset.

David Sidwick 

Police and Crime Commissioner