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17/05/2002
Savage calls for action on rising rural crime
UUP assembly member George Savage has called for a major awareness campaign in the rural community to alert people to what he described as a "rising tide" of organised crime.
Speaking in Stormont on Friday Mr Savage, the Ulster Unionist front bench spokesperson on agriculture, warned that there were growing fears among the farming community over thefts and attacks.
Mr Savage, the UUP assembly member for Upper Bann, said: "This is not just a matter of young thugs attacking elderly people in remote homes, serious though that is, this involves organised gangs of thieves often posing as businessmen in farmyards and basically casing the joint for crimes raids which follow later.
"There was a major problem with this kind of activity in the counties just south of the border, particularly Louth, a few years ago and it needs to be tackled before it becomes a serious issue for the rural community in Northern Ireland.
He said that the remoteness of many rural dwellings has led to a "climate of fear" among people in remote areas.
Mr Savage said: "The only way to stop this is to make people aware of how these gangs operate and to create rapid response mechanisms so that they can be apprehended quickly.
"I believe this requires a robust response from the PSNI and I will be encouraging them to move on it."
He added that the rural community needed confidence building measures so that organised crime did not become an unwanted feature of rural life.
(SP)
Speaking in Stormont on Friday Mr Savage, the Ulster Unionist front bench spokesperson on agriculture, warned that there were growing fears among the farming community over thefts and attacks.
Mr Savage, the UUP assembly member for Upper Bann, said: "This is not just a matter of young thugs attacking elderly people in remote homes, serious though that is, this involves organised gangs of thieves often posing as businessmen in farmyards and basically casing the joint for crimes raids which follow later.
"There was a major problem with this kind of activity in the counties just south of the border, particularly Louth, a few years ago and it needs to be tackled before it becomes a serious issue for the rural community in Northern Ireland.
He said that the remoteness of many rural dwellings has led to a "climate of fear" among people in remote areas.
Mr Savage said: "The only way to stop this is to make people aware of how these gangs operate and to create rapid response mechanisms so that they can be apprehended quickly.
"I believe this requires a robust response from the PSNI and I will be encouraging them to move on it."
He added that the rural community needed confidence building measures so that organised crime did not become an unwanted feature of rural life.
(SP)
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