Garda crime prevention officer Sgt Peter McConnon gave the following advice to farmers at a community meeting during this week's anti-rural crime Operation Storm meeting in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.
Mark all your property,including machinery and tools, both visibly with engravings and covertly with a UV pen available from office supply shops. Such pens leave markings that can only be seen in ultraviolet light used by gardaí. The most advanced marking system is the IFA's TheftStop, Sgt McConnon said. This is not only a theft deterrent, it helps find the owners of stolen items when they are recovered. Sgt McConnon said that a recent seizure of 406 stolen items, including farming tools, had only three markings, two of them made in the UK and only one in Ireland. "We have millions of euros' worth of property that we cannot reunite with its owners," he said.
Photograph your property. The gardaí has an internal YouTube-like system it calls GTube. It can find a match between a picture of your stolen property and an item recovered elsewhere.Have at least one shed alarmed. "Just €65 can alarm a shed," said Sgt McConnon. You can then store more valuable items in this building. Place GPS trackers on machinery. While more modern machines come with built-in GPS trackers, a standalone device costs €130 and can be fitted anywhere a power supply is available, such as inside the cab light. Wireless units are also available. A GPS tracker will show its position using an app on your smartphone and alert you if any movement is detected. Sgt McConnon said an owner of a caravan fitted it with a tracker after he noticed visitors scouting it, which helped arrest them when they came back to steal the caravan in his absence.Join a community alert group.Not only is this a deterrent – Gardaí in the Carlow-Kilkenny division have pioneered a new live online map of community alert schemes, allowing them to send alerts more accurately when crime is detected in an area. They are also in the process of allocating liaison officers for each group. Sgt McConnon offered to share the map with IFA representatives to help co-ordinating crime prevention efforts with farmers.Don't buy anything from strangers. "No receipt means no guarantee and if you are in possession of stolen goods you may be liable for prosecution," said Sgt McConnon. He gave the example of a stolen tractor identified by its owner in an online classified ad. The seller had bought it second-hand "without doing his homework" and faced a loss of €40,000 when the tractor was recovered, as well as a file being sent to the director for public prosecution, Sgt McConnon said. Read more
Simple steps to help make your farm theft-proof
Garda crime prevention officer Sgt Peter McConnon gave the following advice to farmers at a community meeting during this week's anti-rural crime Operation Storm meeting in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.
Mark all your property,including machinery and tools, both visibly with engravings and covertly with a UV pen available from office supply shops. Such pens leave markings that can only be seen in ultraviolet light used by gardaí. The most advanced marking system is the IFA's TheftStop, Sgt McConnon said. This is not only a theft deterrent, it helps find the owners of stolen items when they are recovered. Sgt McConnon said that a recent seizure of 406 stolen items, including farming tools, had only three markings, two of them made in the UK and only one in Ireland. "We have millions of euros' worth of property that we cannot reunite with its owners," he said.
Photograph your property. The gardaí has an internal YouTube-like system it calls GTube. It can find a match between a picture of your stolen property and an item recovered elsewhere.Have at least one shed alarmed. "Just €65 can alarm a shed," said Sgt McConnon. You can then store more valuable items in this building. Place GPS trackers on machinery. While more modern machines come with built-in GPS trackers, a standalone device costs €130 and can be fitted anywhere a power supply is available, such as inside the cab light. Wireless units are also available. A GPS tracker will show its position using an app on your smartphone and alert you if any movement is detected. Sgt McConnon said an owner of a caravan fitted it with a tracker after he noticed visitors scouting it, which helped arrest them when they came back to steal the caravan in his absence.Join a community alert group.Not only is this a deterrent – Gardaí in the Carlow-Kilkenny division have pioneered a new live online map of community alert schemes, allowing them to send alerts more accurately when crime is detected in an area. They are also in the process of allocating liaison officers for each group. Sgt McConnon offered to share the map with IFA representatives to help co-ordinating crime prevention efforts with farmers.Don't buy anything from strangers. "No receipt means no guarantee and if you are in possession of stolen goods you may be liable for prosecution," said Sgt McConnon. He gave the example of a stolen tractor identified by its owner in an online classified ad. The seller had bought it second-hand "without doing his homework" and faced a loss of €40,000 when the tractor was recovered, as well as a file being sent to the director for public prosecution, Sgt McConnon said. Read more
Simple steps to help make your farm theft-proof
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