Crime Prevention Segment

On this month’s Crimecall, Sergeant John Fitzpatrick was in studio discussing farm security, offering advice on how to secure equipment to minimise risk of theft. 

In general, there has not been an increase in incidents over the last few years.

Theft incidents from Farmland including property and livestock:

2024** – 42 incidents

2023**   – 152 incidents

2022   – 166 incidents

Interestingly, during 2023, the majority of stolen objects incidents reported to An Garda Síochána (e.g. farm equipment, tools, fencing, etc.) were taken during weekday afternoons.

On the other hand, of the livestock theft incidents reported to An Garda Síochána, these are more likely to occur during the weekend period, particularly on Friday night.

Given that thefts can occur at any hour or day of the week, every premises can benefit from a security review at least once a year. This would entail taking a look from the perimeter of the property inwards and looking for areas of weakness. Some examples of areas of weakness would be damaged gates and poor fencing. A plan should be put in place to improve and increase security.

General farm safety advice:

Some simple but effective farm machinery theft prevention advice is outlined as follows:

• Restrict access to your property.
• Consider appropriate signage such as “private property”.
• Install gates and fix them to a sturdy concrete or metal post.
• Install fencing, hedges and walls – all should be robust, well maintained and checked regularly for breaches.

• Illuminate areas which are overlooked from the dwelling or covered by CCTV.

• Consider installing CCTV; CCTV will provide surveillance on places out of view of the farmhouse.
• Store tools and smaller machinery items in a building, close to the farmhouse, with enhanced security features, e.g. alarm, CCTV.
• Consideration can also be given to installing passive infrared sensors.

Passive Infrared Sensorsare triggered by motion and can record both video and audio, some also have night vision features. They are particularly useful at entrances to yards and remote farms and areas where high value items are stored.

These sensors are SIM enabled and battery operated with the option of solar panels - meaning no wiring and no broadband. They can be installed by a Private Security Authority (PSA) approved installer and you can avail of monitored service or have footage sent to your mobile phone. *Some network service providers are switching off their 3G networks, therefore, you should check with your installer if you experience any issues.

• Lock all vehicles.

• Fit an Immobiliser or use a physical steering wheel lock.
• Install a tracker.

• Remove keys from all vehicles and equipment and store in a secure location.
• Photograph machinery and tools. To get an idea of scale have someone stand beside larger items such as trailers or quads. Use a ruler for smaller items. Consideration could be given to using the Garda Property App to store this information.
• Consider joining a Community Alert scheme or starting your own.

All of these items act as a deterrent and can make your farm less attractive to a thief. 

Figures:

Farm Equipment thefts report to An Garda Síochána – 2023**

Livestock Thefts reported to An Garda Síochána – 2023**

Livestock Thefts reported to An Garda Síochána – 01/01/2024 – 05/04/2024**

Garda Property App:

This is a free app developed by An Garda Síochána to allow you to record and index your property, for example, bicycles, laptops, farm machinery etc.  It will give you the facility to record the unique information associated with your property. Should your items be stolen, the app also provides a way of reporting this to An Garda Síochána and gives you the option to share information with us for this purpose.

You can record the make, model, serial number, colour, etc. relating to your property in addition to any unique features on equipment/property. You can also save photographs of your property.

In addition to the above information, you should consider marking your property with a uniquely identifiable brand in both obvious and secret locations and upload this data to the property app.

Your data will remain private until you wish to share it with An Garda Síochána.

The app is available to download for free from the Apple Store and Android Play.

https://www.garda.ie/en/angardasiochanaapp/

Crime Prevention Officer:

Within each Garda Division, there are specialist Crime Prevention Officers (CPOs). CPOs are trained to encourage, promote and advise on crime prevention in both private and business communities. Your local CPO can visit your farm and provide information on how to target harden your premises. Details regarding your local Crime Prevention Officer can be found here:

https://www.garda.ie/en/crime-prevention/who-is-my-local-crime-prevention-officer-/