Recording and Responding to Farm Crime: A National Study of Police Forces in England and Wales

Farm crime is a relatively neglected area of research in the criminological literature. Some work has been conducted in the United States and Australia, however, little attention has been paid to the subject in the United Kingdom. There have however, been recent concerns voiced about farm crime in England and Wales from both the public and private service sector as well as across the media. This article has two main aims: one, to ascertain why farm crime has recently emerged as a rural crime issue, when up until now it has been relatively neglected by a broader rural crime and governance framework and two, to consider how the policing of farm crime can expect to fare in the future. The paper begins with a brief review of the existing farm crime literature before situating its neglect in the United Kingdom within a broader rural crime and governance framework. Thereafter, the main focus moves onto the policing of farm crime both in its current state and within the context of recent policy developments in crime governance.