WITH incidents of livestock theft on the rise in the state, SA Police is ramping up their efforts to get on top of the problem.
From April to June this year there were 2277 animals reported stolen to SAPOL, in 116 different incidents.
The overwhelming majority of livestock reported missing were sheep, but even 58 goats were reported missing to police.
SAPOL estimates $1 million in stock thefts occurred across SA in the last financial year.
In a bid to get this figure down, SAPOL has developed a new training initiative.
At the moment SAPOL has 15 agricultural liaison officer working in regional local service areas, with eight authorised as inspectors under the Livestock Act 1997.
As part of the new initiative, training courses for regional police will be run with the assistance of PIRSA, which is likely to lead further police being authorised as livestock inspectors. To become an authorised inspector, PIRSA requires members to be trained in the National Livestock Identification System and have a sound understanding of the associated legislation.
Police Minister Peter Malinauskas said for the past five years SAPOL has made a concerted effort to protect farmers from stock theft.
“While we have seen stock thefts fall on the whole, these crimes have hit an upwards trend in the past two years,” he said.
“A spate of sheep thefts in particular has led to Operation Poach being boosted, with regional frontline officers receiving new and specialised training to prevent and investigate these crimes.
“We hope this new collaborative training will see SAPOL’s team of livestock inspectors grow, meaning less farmers are suffering the economic loss and hardship of livestock theft.”
