Farm crime surveys consistently indicate very high rates of victimization amongst farmers, yet low rates of reporting (see Harkness, 2016; Department of Justice NSW, 2017). Explanations for this include perceptions of leniency on behalf of the courts, issues related to social density, a desire not to be seen as snitching on another in the community and concerns of revenge and retaliation. Another factor is a hesitance amongst farmers to report crime owing to perceptions that the police lack both the interest in responding to farm crime as well as the capacity to solve these crimes. Over time, geographic and cultural barriers have led to a disjunct between police and rural farming communities, thus limiting collaborative crime prevention efforts (see Barclay, 2016).

Surveys of farmers indicate a strong desire for an informed and engaged rural police force, which is well-resourced and can be relied upon to be both reactive (such as with clearance rates) and proactive (for example, public engagement; crime prevention) (refer to Mulrooney, 2021). In an Australian context, there exists strong support amongst farmers for a dedicated team of expert police officers trained to deal with rural crime specifically.

Past research indicates that a lack of subject matter expertize and cultural barriers have hindered engagement: general duty police may not grasp the nuances of rural crime – for example, the type of stock stolen or its market value, and its impacts on the victims both psychologically and economically. By contrast, specialized rural crime officers are better placed to address these issues, as they come armed with the knowledge of locational context and cultural geography, and are trained to deal with farm crime.

Rural policing teams around the world typically attend numerous and various in-person rural-related events throughout the year, such as agricultural shows, community meetings, stakeholder workshops and industry conferences. Such teams also maintain social media engagement through Twitter, Facebook and other bespoke online engagement platforms. This enables teams to highlight outcomes of operations, provide target hardening options, promote events, share relevant information from other stakeholders, seek assistance from the community and ensure the topic of rural crime remains a ‘hot topic’ in rural social media.