A POLICE team dedicated to serving rural communities is celebrating its first anniversary – and its 100th arrest.

One year in, and North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Taskforce is leading the way when it comes to dealing with crime and other issues that affect those who live and work in the countryside.

Now the team has pledged to keep up the pressure on rural crime over the coming 12 months.

In 2015, the National Rural Crime Survey discovered that rural communities were not only living in fear of crime being committed against them, but that they were under-reporting crime by up to a third.

In response to this the Rural Taskforce was established in April last year, made up of an Inspector, Sergeant, seven Police Constables and seven Police Community Support Officers, based across the districts of the county.

In addition, there is also an intelligence analyst and a rural policing coordinator, ensuring that the Taskforce is responding to trends in crime flexibly and proactively by using information gathered from colleagues, communities, and partners alike.

The Rural Taskforce builds on the work already carried out by North Yorkshire Police’s Neighbourhood Policing Teams, response officers and proactive policing colleagues in tackling rural crime head-on.

In its first year, Taskforce officers made 101 arrests, reported 71 people for summons and seized 39 vehicles.

Equally importantly, officers and PCSOs have attended more than 100 community events across the county – including Ryedale Show – as well as parish council meetings, primary land user groups and conferences.

In addition, the Taskforce is regularly present at livestock markets and sales, attending Malton, Helmsley and Pickering.

It also works very closely with Rural Watch schemes – community volunteers who provide invaluable support to the police in their area.

Inspector Jon Grainge, who leads the Rural Taskforce, said: “The team have had a very busy – and very productive – first year of operation. Crucial to our success is working with the community, talking to local residents and businesses, understanding the issues that affect them and offering advice wherever possible. There have been thousands of conversations over our first year and this year we’ll have thousands more.”

“That two-way communication is vital, and we need people to continue to tell us about suspicious incidents. Particularly in rural areas, local residents and businesses can act as the eyes and ears of the police, helping us clamp down on crime and anti-social behaviour whenever it occurs. Local people know when something or someone is suspicious, out of place or unusual in your community and we need you to tell us about it.”