The Webster County Farm Bureau sponsored a Rural Crime Summit in Marshfield, Mo., which featured Deputy Brett Wilson of the Johnson County Kansas Sheriff’s Office and Cpl. Mike Bracker of the Missouri Highway Patrol Rural Crimes Investigative Unit as well as Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole. They spoke to citizens about the rise in thefts in rural Missouri. Deputy Wilson shared information about an organization known as TRACE (Theft Reports of Agricultural and Construction Equipment) that shares theft information with 104 counties in Missouri and Kansas as well as some counties in Oklahoma.
“It’s basically like a Neighborhood Watch program for the entire region but on the Internet,” he explained. “That allows information about stolen equipment and cattle to be dispersed to a much wider area. Stolen equipment and cattle usually go 100 miles down the road for re-sale so this is another way to combat that. This program allows farmers, ranchers, insurance agents, auction and construction company owners, equipment dealers as well as law enforcement officials to enter information on stolen equipment or cattle.”
“The biggest theft areas we are dealing with now are in metal, equipment, chemicals and cattle,” Cpl. Mike Bracker added. “Metal theft is up because of the high price being paid at this time for scrap metal. Rural businesses and churches are also in danger of being vandalized as a result. Of course, trailers, skid steer loaders, ATVs and tractors continue to be the top equipment targeted by thieves.”
Cpl. Bracker went on to explain that the numbers tell the story in both metal and cattle theft. The metal thief gets a few hundred dollars for the average theft but the damage, repair and replacement costs to the owner come closer to $50,000 per theft. The average bank robber nets $3,500 on his crime but the average cattle thief gets $18,500 for his efforts.
All the law enforcement officials in attendance encouraged their audience to go back to the tried but true practice of branding cattle. “It’s like this,” one of the officers shared. “If a thief is going down the road and sees Angus on one field that are clearly branded and Angus on the other side of the road, which are not, which do you think he is more likely to go after?”
Sheriff Cole urged the audience to keep an eye out for strange vehicles cruising their roads or turning into the neighbors’ drive. “Be careful though. You cannot shoot someone for stealing cattle and be careful about confronting these people who can be desperate and dangerous. The best advice is to call our office if you have concerns.”
Other tips shared included installing a kill switch on equipment so that the generic keys often issued by agriculture and construction equipment manufacturers would not instantly start an expensive piece of equipment. “It is a small price to pay, installing a secret switch which will not allow the engine to engage until it is flipped, to protect a large investment,” Cpl. Bracker concluded.
Deputy Wilson concluded by advising equipment owners to add the last six digits of the equipment’s VIN number, in a secret place on the equipment. “The thief won’t take time to search for it,” he added, “but I will. I’ll turn it upside down, look all over for it and with those six digits, I can find the original owner.”
