Keeping EyesOn Rural Crime

“We’ve got our EyesOn you” – that’s the warning to organised crime gangs and criminals targeting rural areas across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The message came from Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones as she launched a pioneering new AI-supported app, EyesOn, the first rural application of its kind in the UK.

EyesOn will be rolled out across the two counties thanks to funding from the PCC, offering a digital solution to filing crime reports as well as a secure ‘chat’ function between groups of local users and police. Information is sent to officers in a police compliant format and the app’s AI data analytics help support rural policing priorities and utilising “what three words”, rather than postcode locations, for precise rural mapping,

The app will be free for approved users and is due to be fully operational this Spring after a short trial with the Constabulary’s Rural Crime Task Force and up to 1,000 users of the existing web platform from the Hampshire Rural Crime Partnership to share information and report crime, but which is limited in how users can access it and how it filters information to police.

Rural crime is a key priority for PCC Donna Jones, who said: “EyesOn is a revolutionary new app which will be a game changer in the fight against rural crime for our countryside communities and local police.

“Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, our beautiful countryside is all too often blighted by the damage caused by criminal activity. Organised gangs target these areas and businesses, and it is threatening to put many rural sites out of business.

“I am delighted to be supporting and funding the EyesOn project, so that our rural communities can access it for free and share news, risks and concerns as well as images and CCTV footage of offences being committed and the damage left behind.

“We have already seen great success with our retail-focussed app, UKPAC. Thanks to that initiative we are now one of the top police forces in the country for dealing with shoplifting offences. I look forward to seeing EyesOn have a similar impact on tackling rural crimes.

“My message to the criminal gangs moving across our wonderful two counties is that we’ve got our EyesOn you, and we are coming after you.”

Users are being urged to continue using 999 to report crimes in progress or in an emergency. However, the improved line of communication from EyesOn between rural communities and police will ensure that officers can better understand local issues and the impact that Organised Crime has on these areas.

Inspector Cath MacDonald, who heads Rural Crime Task Force, said: “We are excited about this app and the positive difference it will make to further strengthening policing in rural areas.

“EyesOn gives police and the community a much more user-friendly interface, making it quicker and easier to report crimes and incidents, and then to get that information to the right local policing team.

“The app’s analytics will help us to identify problems, trends and how best to target a police response, adding to the impact our Rural Crime Task Force are already having across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

“We want to be in the right areas at the right times to target rural criminality, and this app will be another important tool helping us to do that.”

Lucy Charman, National Rural Crime Lead for the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) added: “Previous methods of reporting rural crimes have been, at times, somewhat cumbersome. The introduction of something tailored to the needs of rural businesses and landowners, which makes reporting incidents easier and helps to forge closer links with police, is always going to be welcome.

“Our message to rural communities, is that reporting incidents is essential.”

The EyesOn platform has been developed by UK Partners Against Crime (UKPAC), who also provide a tailored retail business app, which has directly led to 107 shoplifters being charged in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as well as helping secure more than 55 years in custodial sentencing, since it was launched by the PCC last June.

Gareth Lewis, Chairman of UKPAC, said: “The launch of EyesOn in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is a UK first and has been made possible thanks to the support, input and guidance from PCC Donna Jones and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.

“Developed in support of the National Rural Crime Strategy, this app will make our rural communities safer, bring together people living and working in our countryside areas, leaving them better connected and better supported.”

PCC Donna Jones announced the new app alongside Gareth Lewis and Assistant Chief Constable Tara McGovern, local policing lead for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, at a Rural Crime Event at Sparsholt College near Winchester.

Police met with farmers, landowners, rural business owners, wildlife organisations and local authorities at the event to hear their concerns and discuss ways to make countryside areas stronger and safer.

For more information on EyesOn go to www.eyesonapp.com