In 2018, the National Rural Crime Network (NRCN) conducted a Rural Crime Survey, the largest survey of rural residents and businesses taken in the UK, to help capture the feelings and attitudes of communities affected by rural crime. This survey highlighted a number of national concerns, specifically around the prioritisation of urban issues and growing sense of frustration amongst the rural community that the true cost of rural crime is not appropriately calculated.
The scale of responses to the national survey was significant, with over 20,000 responses from across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The survey was open to anyone who lives, owns a business or regularly visits a rural area, but was predominantly focused on areas officially defined as ‘rural’ by the Office of National Statistics. On this basis, the level of responses from Hertfordshire was relatively small and a clear picture of the concerns of Hertfordshire residents was not fully captured.
To encapsulate the views of a much wider proportion of the Hertfordshire population, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner would like to invite you to take part in a Hertfordshire specific rural crime survey.
This survey aims to identify the perceptions of rural crime amongst Hertfordshire residents and the level of public confidence in how rural communities are being policed. This information will subsequently be used to help inform the development of future policy and practice and a full report will be published on the Police and Crime Commissioners website following the conclusion of the survey.
The survey should take you no longer than 20 minutes to complete. Participation is optional and if you change your mind at any time during the survey you will be able to withdraw your participation without having to provide a reason. All responses are anonymised and care has been taken to ensure that no individuals can be identified through their responses.
We thank you in advance for your time and support.