Secured by Design, the official police security initiative, were in attendance at the 33rd annual Wildlife and Rural Crime conference last weekend.

The 2022 conference, which took place at Yarnfield Park Training & Conference Centre in Staffordshire, is where law enforcers, statutory agencies and NGOs all gather to hear the latest views, approaches, successes and challenges of combating wildlife crime in the UK.

There will be a comprehensive programme of presentations from key agencies who are involved in wildlife and rural crime enforcement, with the weekend also featuring presentations in relation to the wildlife and rural priority areas. There will also be interactive workshops, awards, and excellent opportunities for networking.

Chief Inspector Kevin Kelly, Head of the National Wildlife Crime Unit said: “Conference is a really important time for our enforcers who work locally, nationally and internationally.

“We aim to make conference exciting, informative and interactive, to give back as much as possible to our valued enforcers who serve on the front line.

“We will once again host an awards ceremony on the Saturday night to ensure we maximise opportunities to spotlight the good work that goes on nationally and for us to say thank you to the ones who really care about making a difference in tackling wildlife crime.”

Doug Skins, of Secured by Design, said: “We know the impact of rural crime on our communities and are working with our partners to make life harder for these criminals, as our rural communities have enough daily challenges without losing essential tools and machinery to thieves.

“Our Crime Prevention and Security Advice Hub, along with security products that have achieved the Police Preferred Specification for their crime prevention qualities, will help to support our rural communities in the prevention of this type of crime.

“Our advice offers best practice, alongside practical crime prevention methods and includes links to Secured by Design member companies that can offer products designed to help protect property and reduce the opportunities for criminals.

“Many Police forces operate a Rural Police team and help organise Farm and Country Business Watches to deal with issues affecting rural communities, and I would encourage you to engage with them to help tackle the scourge of rural crime”.

Secured by Design (SBD) operates an accreditation scheme on behalf of the UK Police Service for products or services that have met recognised security standards.

These products or services – which must be capable of deterring or preventing crime – are known as being of a ‘Police Preferred Specification’.

There are many hundreds of companies who produce thousands of individual attack resistant crime prevention products, in more than 30 different categories, which have met the exacting standards of the Police Preferred Specification.

This includes doors, windows, external storage, bicycle and motorcycle security, vehicle security, locks and hardware, asset marking, alarms, CCTV, safes, perimeter security products and many others.

SBD’s is the only way for companies to obtain police recognition for security-related products in the UK.
To find out more about the Police Preferred Specification, visit

Secured By Design Rural & Agricultural Security Advice
According to the SBD website: The types of rural crimes seen across the UK vary from all types of farm crime, such as equipment theft or vandalism, through to fly tipping.

Police forces also face regional and local variations in rural crime, with equipment, tool and fuel security being a particular issue for rural businesses and farms.

Secured by Design’s advice offers best practice for you to follow, alongside practical crime prevention methods and includes links to Secured by Design member companies that can offer products designed to help protect your property and reduce the opportunities for criminals.