NSW Rural Crime Prevention team speak at CWA State Conference in Bathurst

Detective Chief Inspector Cameron Whiteside along with Rural Crime Prevention policy and project officer Ann Brennan were guest speakers at the annual Country Women's Association (CWA) state conference.

With members of the CWA spread out around the state, and all very involved in their respective communities, Detective Whiteside said it was a great opportunity to share some important messages.

"The main thing is to be connected to everyone in a rural community that's not only impacted by rural crime, but can influence the reporting of it and the increase in awareness of what we do," Detective Whiteside said.

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"There's no better organisation than the Country Women's Association to do that. Not only have they stood the test of time, they are all influential, not only in farming but in rural communities."

Detective Whiteside and Ms Brennan stressed the importance of reporting rural crimes, even if it only seems small.

While in a single circumstance the crime may not seem important, and the property owner might feel like they're hassling police by reporting, Ms Brennan said it could be the missing piece they need to solve a string of crimes.

"The biggest thing we can possible push forward is report the crime, it doesn't matter how big or small, report the crime," she said.

"It's been identified that there's only 50 per cent of rural crimes being reported, which makes it really hard for us to actually investigate the crimes and put strategies together.

"So if we don't know about it, we can't do anything about it. The big thing is if you see it, say something."

A big difference between crimes in metropolitan areas as opposed to rural communities is the time it can take to notice that something untoward has occurred.

Ms Brennan said on a farm it could be months before the owners realise a crime has taken place, but that doesn't mean reporting it to the police should go out the window.

"So people go 'the thing is, I don't know when it occurred, I've got no witnesses, I've got no evidence, there's nothing there.' But we still need to know that information," Ms Brennan said.

"They may have that little piece of the puzzle that we need to move forward and start targeting a location or offender."

To report a rural crime - or suspected crime - people should contact their local police station, with Detective Whiteside saying as soon as you start contemplating whether to report or not, the answer should be yes.

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