RURAL crime has become an increasing problem for the farming community – with machinery and livestock thefts costing farmers hundreds, or potentially thousands, each year.

A survey by NFU Mutual found that the cost of rural crime increased by 22.1% in 2022 and rural theft cost the south west £5million that same year.

In a bid to help tackle rural crime in the south west, a new private investigative service has recently launched in Cornwall - Close Observations Group (C.O.G).

Although rural crime isn’t the team’s only focus, C.O.G know that the farming community is heavily impacted by crime. The team are looking to help farmers and protect those who put food on our plates.

C.O.G is the brainchild of J and K, who started the company after a military career and worked for a number of years in covert surveillance. The co-founders, who prefer to remain anonymous due to the nature of their work, said they both love Cornwall and are passionate about helping others.

K said: “I’ve always loved helping others, whether in military or otherwise. For me, my time in the military gave me a very specific skillset of things that I can do. I’m not from Cornwall, but I have settled down here. I fell in love with Cornwall, and I love having the ability to be able to help protect the county and offer a service that protects the identity of the south west.”

South West Farmer: C.O.G team members.

C.O.G offer a variety of surveillance services to farmers. The team offers farmers an initial consultation, where they can provide advice on how to deter rural crime. C.O.G will then set up surveillance if needed – either with manned covert observation posts or using hidden camera’s disguised as everyday objects that you would find on a farm.

If the farm does have a specific group of people targeting it, then C.O.G would use specific tracking devices and cameras to work out who is causing issues for the farmer. The next step would be either to go to the police, or C.O.G team members would use interdiction tactics to deter the criminals.

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“We comply with GDPR and always work within the law,” added K.

“We would never do anything with compromises a breach of someone’s human rights and we have regulations we must abide by. Public bodies must abide by RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000) and private bodies don’t have to. But at C.O.G, we do follow RIPA's structure and guidelines as closely as we can.

South West Farmer: C.O.G team members.

“If we do use interdiction tactics, we don’t get hands on with someone, but can basically ward off any would-be criminals to let them know the farmer has security measures in place. But all this is done with permission of the farmer.”

J and K have worked hard to form a network of various organisations to help with their work, from animal welfare experts to suppliers of top-class technology equipment. They price each job individually, depending on what the problem is, the size of the farm and so on – but they said just want to help the rural community, and not charge ‘ridiculous’ prices.

“We’re not farmers but we are investigators so we can monitor and know what trends we are looking for,” added K.

“We know how to pursue these criminals within the perimeter of the law. We are leaving the farmer to do his job and taking the weight off their shoulders.

“If a farmer calls up from Cornwall, we will phone them and pop down and have a chat face to face and won’t charge them for that. We want to see people face to face and humanize everything. We do genuinely care about this and we are here to help the farming community. Farmers are having tough times at the moment and we just want to help.”

If you think C.O.G could help you, give the team a call today on 07429934815 (K) or 07961438644 (J) or email closeobservationsgroup@gmail.com.