Preventing stock theft: Reversing the risk vs reward calculation

NSW Police State Rural Crime Coordinator, Detective Chief Inspector Cameron Whiteside APM, has a simple message for any producer who’s been the victim of stock theft.

“Report. Report. Report.”

One of the biggest challenges his team faces in dealing with on-farm theft is a reluctance by many producers to make a police report.

It’s one of the reasons the NSW Rural Crime Prevention Team has been working hard since 2018 to gain the confidence of country communities through improved engagement and a demonstrated understanding of rural industries.

“Many of my team members are producers themselves, or they’ve worked in the industry in jobs such as shearing or wool-classing, so they’ve got that industry knowledge,” he said.

“We’re not there to tell producers how to run their business but we can support them and help them reduce their vulnerability to theft in simple actionable ways,” he said.

“If a NSW producer has been hit multiple times they can contact the NSW Rural Crime Prevention Team and, as part of Operation Fortress, an officer will speak to them or go out to their property to help identify security issues.”

The team’s work seems to be improving perceptions of NSW Police in country areas, with producers telling the 2021 Farm Crime Survey that an encounter with the Rural Crime Prevention Team left them feeling ‘significantly more positive about policing overall’.

The University of New England (UNE) is now conducting a new National Farm Crime Survey and producers are invited to contribute their experience of farm crime.

Don’t delay reporting

Delays in reporting present one of the biggest challenges to policing – making it harder for investigators to collect both reliable eyewitness accounts and forensic evidence. In the case of stock theft, delayed reporting risks the animals being on the other side of the country (or on a plate) by the time a police investigation is opened.

According to Det Ch Insp Whiteside, the reluctance of producers to report could be attributed to several factors, including a level of disbelief that someone would steal from them or fear of retaliation from the offender.

“It could also be the case that their record keeping isn’t up to date – they mightn’t have tagged their animals or recorded their stock transfers on the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS). If that’s the case, identifying what animals have been taken can be a real issue but we’ll do our best to support victims of rural crime.”

To overcome this issue, Det Ch Insp Whiteside suggested producers conduct regular PIC reconciliations on the NLIS to ensure they were prepared should they ever need to report stolen stock. ISC is hosting a PIC Reconciliation webinar on 13 November at 7:00pm (AEDT). For more information or to register, click here.

Whatever the reason for hesitating, the advice remains the same: Don’t delay reporting – even if you think the animal has simply strayed, you should still report it to the police as soon as possible.

Times of heightened risk

Rates of stock theft tend to follow market price trends, with higher cattle and sheep prices often leading to higher rates of theft.

In the 12 months to July 2024 the incidence of stock theft reported to NSW Police declined by 28% compared to the 12 months prior. During the same period, average market prices had also declined, with cattle prices down 27% (average price based on ‘cow’ value) and sheep prices dropping 39% (average price based on ‘ewe’ value).

Det Ch Insp Whiteside said when seasons are good and the price of livestock is high, thieves are more active, chasing bigger rewards during those times. Conversely, when feed becomes scarcer during drought, thefts drop because the cost of feeding stolen livestock rises.

Reversing the risk/reward calculation

“When you consider the risk versus reward of stealing livestock, the reward is much higher than the risk,” Det Ch Insp Whiteside said. “We need to reverse that equation and start making it much harder for the criminals.”

In Det Ch Insp Whiteside experience, a stock thief is just like any other in that they’ll always look for the easiest target. He suggests making your property a harder target by considering a few simple and actionable security measures, including:

• GPS tagging: GPS tags (in addition to an NLIS tag) can be a gamechanger for stock crimes. For example, during a GPS device trial at UNE, the Rural Crime Prevention Team participated in a mock stock theft and was able to recover the tagged stock within 25 minutes.

• CCTV coverage: Cameras can be a real deterrent. With many affordable systems on the market and internet coverage now accessible in many rural areas, it’s worth investigating the available options and your local ag field days can be a good opportunity do this.

• Gate signage: Print out these Private Property and No Trespassing signs to encourage all visitors to seek approval before coming onto your property.

“Your property will never be 100% crime-proof but if you’re aware of the risks, you can reduce them,” he said.

Expanding rural crime investigation capabilities

With 53 Rural Crime Investigators to cover an area the size of Texas, the Rural Crime Prevention Team has worked to expand NSW Police’s capacity and capability by providing rural crime related training (including online and face-to-face) to a large number of regional-based police officers.

“In 2022, we relaunched Operation Stock Check which saw us train police, particularly Highway Patrol, in what to look for when pulling over stock vehicles,” Det Ch Insp Whiteside explained, “with the focus being on understanding what paperwork the transporters are required to carry and Identifying animal welfare and fit-to-load issues.”

Stock thieves are unlikely to have the electronic or paper National Vendor Declaration (NVD) required to transport animals, so that should instantly raise alarm bells. It’s also a good reminder to producers that they need to make sure their paperwork is complete and correct before dispatching a consignment.

“Checking the paperwork is a simple way to immediately identify if something isn’t right and collect evidence about any potential crime. Those trained officers now have the skills necessary to understand what’s required.”

The training helped officers who might have been born and bred in the city to engage more effectively with rural communities and identify when something was out of place.

“An officer who might have grown up in the middle of Sydney would now realise that a horse float being towed around in the early hours of the morning should raise a red flag and trigger some serious questions,” Det Ch Insp Whiteside said. “If necessary, those officers know they can then call on us to assist them with reviewing or taking over the matter.”

“We’re quite proud of the capability we’ve built across the NSW Police Force,” Det Ch Inspector Whiteside said, adding that following the success of Operation Stock Check most Australian jurisdictions have now adopted those approaches in some form.