Bedfordshire’s farmers offered half price technology to tackle rural crime

A major new project to help tackle rural crime by forensically marking agricultural vehicles has been unveiled in Bedfordshire.

The CESAR scheme is the latest initiative funded by the county’s Safer Streets project, which is focused on tackling neighbourhood crime issues such as anti-social behaviour and burglary.

A new half price discount will be available to Bedfordshire farmers on DataTags which have been known to help policing teams to recover stolen agricultural equipment.

Chief Inspector Jim Goldsmith said: “The CESAR scheme allows the police to easily identify farm vehicles and machinery and is a known deterrent against criminality on farms.

“The CESAR registration database is accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to provide support to police officers who are making enquiries about equipment stopped in suspicious circumstances with persons they suspect may have stolen it. Equipment can be checked and instantly the ownership of a machine can be determined.

“This is an invaluable tool to both farm owners and the police and is guaranteed to have an impact in reducing the levels of agricultural crime in Bedfordshire.”

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner launched the new initiative worth £40,000.

The commissioner, Festus Akinbusoye, said: “We are confident this half price offer on CESAR data tagging systems will be a much welcomed and popular security measure amongst our local farmers, giving some reassurance with the security of their vital equipment.”

To order your half price CESAR system, email [email protected] for a call back.