Quiet night for police on Operation Festive

Around 100 officers patrolled rural areas in West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire as part of Operation Festive, a joint operation between the force, landowners, farmers and gamekeepers.
Operation Festive was set up in January 2012 and uses volunteers from the local community to act as spotters who can then alert police to suspicious activities in the hope of catching criminals in the act.
The operation is part of a drive to tackle rural crime, which is a priority of Thames Valley Police and crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld.
Although there is no set definition of rural crime, the most common offences are thefts of machinery and fuel, hare-coursing and deer-poaching.
Insp Malcolm Whitaker, who is leading the operation, said: “This is a great example of how Thames Valley Police is working with residents in rural communities to make sure rural crime levels remain low.
“Although the wet weather has played its part in keeping it a quiet night with no rural crime reported, it was great to see the local community stayed out until the early hours of the morning helping with the operation.”
The last operation was carried out in December 2012 and resulted in four people being charged.