Rural crime: Stock losses add up to $3.2 million across NSW

A recently-completed series of crime prevention strategy workshops were held across NSW and the Central West and now the information is also available online.

Stock theft, trespass and illegal hunting are major concerns for primary producers in the region, State Rural Crime Co-ordinator Detective Inspector Cameron Whiteside said.

Market price, isolation/distance and opportunity are major factors in why farmers' stock is targeted.

"The animals are worth a lot of money, are farmed at locations that are often isolated which provides the thieves the opportunity to enter the property and remove the stock without detection," Det Insp Whiteside said.

During 2018, there were 372 separate cases of stock theft and a total of 20,008 animals stolen.

More sheep were stolen than any other animal with 17,969 taken during the 12-month period. 

There were also 1454 cattle stolen, followed by goats (467), poultry (68), horses (30), dogs (19) and one pig.

Despite the high numbers, Det Insp Whiteside said reported stock theft cases had dropped two per cent compared to the $4.2m worth taken during 2017.

"This decrease would be a combination of less livestock on properties due to the drought and our targeted approach to target rural crime offenders," he said.

"During 2018 farmers have destocked their properties, forced to monitor their livestock closely and have been generally more aware of the movement of their animals.

"Times have been extremely hard for our farmers during this drought, so the value of their stock, which is imperative to ensure their farm remains a working farm, is much higher than the market price."

Det Insp said the estimated losses do not take into account the loss of animal by-product or future breeding potential.

Det Insp said improved identification methods of livestock, regular monitoring, ensuring property boundaries are well maintained and using CCTV were some of the strategies farmers could employ.

"Being aware of new technology and taking advantage of this when available, such as GPS ear tags, computerised boundary monitoring and drones," he said.

"We want to work with the farming industries to develop strategies to reduce stock theft."

Check out the Tackling Rural Crime Handbook.

The state's Rural Crime Prevention Team consists of a group of officers who are specialised investigators.

"They generally have a rural background, have been trained to target rural crime and have a passion second-to-none to track down rural crime offenders and put them before the court," Det Insp Whiteside said.

"This team is unique in their skills and knowledge."

In February, Western Region Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie announced an additional 18 rural crime investigators would work across the state.

The first six officers will commence work this July, with another six to start each year for the next two years.

Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie said the additional investigators would make a massive difference in combating rural crimes.

“Given the drought and other conditions, the impact of theft particularly of stock could be very significant on people involved in rural industries,” he said.

“Often people are not insured.

“We want to target the core of criminals operating in these areas.”