Crime Prevention on Farms: Experiences from Victoria, Australia

Abstract

Whilst rural offending has hitherto been largely overlooked, the canon of scholarly examination of rural crime - including farm crime literature - is slowly growing. In addition to bearing financial costs for farming communities, rural crime bears significant social impacts. Implementation of crime prevention tactics and techniques is, therefore, essential to reducing farmer victimisation. Focussing on property theft from farms in Victoria, Australia, this article draws upon interviews with rural police members and survey data obtained from farmers, and considers the opportunities presented to offenders - often unwittingly by farmers themselves. It considers the situational crime prevention categories of increasing effort, increasing risk and reducing rewards - although developed for urban environments - for farmers and police in rural areas; and argues that improved capable guardianship on farms through human and electronic means, although difficult to achieve, can address farm victimisation and offending rates.