Half price CESAR forensic security marking now available to Bedfordshire’s farmers

A major new project to help tackle rural crime in Bedfordshire by forensically marking agricultural vehicles is being launched in Bedfordshire.

This latest initiative is funded by the county’s Safer Streets project which is focused on tackling neighbourhood crimes such as anti-social behaviour and burglary.

The scheme will see discounts available to Bedfordshire farmers on the industries official CESAR System, incorporating Datatag technology, which have been proven to be a powerful theft deterrent and assist policing teams in identifying and recovering stolen agricultural equipment.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner has launched this new initiative, worth £40,000, in order to offer a 50% CESAR Scheme discount to Bedfordshire farmers to help protect all of their agricultural machinery.

Rural community policing officers have been undergoing training on the CESAR system’s Datatag technologies and how they deter theft. This will allow them to engage and work with local farmers to highlight the benefit of protecting their machinery with CESAR.

Chief Inspector Jim Goldsmith, who is leading the introduction of the CESAR Scheme into the force, 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. As a force we are committed to working with local farmers to encourage reporting of rural thefts and identifying offenders as quickly as possible.”

Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Festus Akinbusoye, said: “Having heard of the success of CESAR offers at constabularies across the country such as Thames Valley and Derbyshire, I am pleased to be able to offer funding towards a discounted rate on CEAR Systems for our local farmers in Bedfordshire.

“We are confident that this half price offer on CESAR 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, please either call 01784 778 310 or email the CESAR Scheme and someone from the Datatag team will call you back.

Other schemes set to be delivered by the Safer Streets project this year include the funding of SmartWater tagging equipment, educational school programmes aimed at improving understanding of ASB, and mobile speed indicator devices.