Police Scotland are warning residents of Highland Perthshire and other rural communities in Perth and Kinross over the ongoing threat of rural crime in the area.
In the latest Commanders Bulletin publish by Tayside Police, Area Commander Tom Leonard warns that Perth and Kinross is still being targeted by professional criminals, who are focused on stealing equipment ranging from farm and plant equipment, to quad bikes and trailers.
Police Scotland said, “If we can make it difficult for organised crime gangs to target our communities then they will quickly look elsewhere for easier prey.”
Police Scotland have listed some measures that can be taken to disrupt and prevent crime around your property are as follows.
- Reduce access by removing all gates and entrances that are not in use replacing them with fence or other barriers.
- Secure all gates with padlocks and repair fencing to restrict any future unauthorised access.
- Park vehicles as close to your premises as possible and preferably out of sight from nearby roads.
- Make sure to remove keys from vehicles when not in use.
- Fit wheel clamps and/or locking posts or consider an alarm
- Park larger vehicles in front of access doors to prevent easy access.
Police Scotland are also advising to mark or customise property so its easily identifiable and can act as a deterrent as well as assisting recovery if they are stollen.
CESAR is the nationally recognised marking scheme and vehicles in this scheme are 4 times less likely to be stolen and 6 times more likely to be identified.
For more information and advice go to https://www.ruralwatchscotland.co.uk/ or the Police Scotland website and search for rural crime.