News  »  Police ask Farmers to put trackers on their farm vehicles

Op ALIBI the term given to quad bike thefts/rural burglaries and linked to criminals in the North Yorkshire/Cleveland border area has seen a few more victims over the past two months. Local SNT would like to emphasise evidence to assist our community to keep their property safe – Vehicle/equipment trackers WORK!

This may seem obvious, however there are still many owners of quads and polaris/mules that have no tracker fitted or any other type of device that may assist in recovering stolen items. Criminals will go to extreme lengths to steal these types of agricultural equipment as they are very quick to sell on making it lucrative and attractive to other ne’r-do-wells who join in with the criminals already expert at burglary. 

Please fit a tracker, it really does help us bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice and in time may just make the quad bike theft market unattractive enough to stop it completely.

We would also like to highlight evidence that these criminals have information of which properties to target before making an attempt to burgle/steal, this means that somebody is able to see or get access to knowledge of where equipment/vehicles are kept by targeted victims? This information could be gleaned by people posing as or using the cover of:

• Delivery persons.
• 4x4 “enthusiasts” or motocross style bikes driving on legal and illicit throughfares/areas.
• “Suspicious” people calling at the house/farm saying they’re lost.
• Scrap dealers touting for any items.
• Poachers and those persons asking to use private land to take a rabbit or two. Temporary hired help.
• Builders/contractors.
• Salespeople/ Door to door salespeople.
• Agricultural goods delivery drivers.

Anybody passing through a farm/property has the potential to glean information if it has the type of goods “worth” stealing. If you have any suspicion about any person or vehicle that has called at your property, please don’t hesitate to call 101 and report your concerns quoting “Op ALIBI” for your reasoning, it may be a crucial link to stopping crime or it may be evidence leading to convictions of prolific criminals.

North Yorkshire Community Messaging is a free community messaging service for people who live and work in North Yorkshire. By signing up to North Yorkshire Community Messaging, you’ll receive email alerts about crime in your area, witness appeals, general policing activity and any scams you should be aware of. Once you have signed up you can choose what you want to receive email alerts about, what area you want to receive alerts about and how often. To sign up to community messaging, please visit the below website: http://www.northyorkshirecommunitymessaging.co.uk

Alternatively, you can contact your local PCSO on the below details, and they will add you to the messaging service. Our Local Policing Team Beat Manager;

• PC1417 Beth Thompson Beth has been serving on Safer Neighbourhoods since September 2023 prior to her role on the team she was a response officer also at Whitby Police Station.
• Ward PCSO; PCSO4829 Pete Lewis – Apart from a short stint in the Stokesley area Pete has been policing the Rural area since 2003.

If you would like us to attend any local events, please send an email to either of the above addresses. If you would like to keep up to date with policing in the wider area, then you can find us on our Facebook Page: North Yorkshire Police