Economy, new laws and vigilance help cut rural crime

Issue Date: June 24, 2009

By Christine Souza
Assistant Editor

Stanislaus County nursery operator Michael Frantz enclosed his family's entire operation in miles of chain link fencing. He said the fencing has cut thefts from the nursery "drastically."

Given the slumping national economy and the depressed value of some agricultural commodities, sheriff's deputies and farmers report that incidents of rural crime in California appear to have decreased.

"If you can't sell it, you are not going to steal it," said Curt Corda, who farms hay, grain and sugar beets in Imperial County. "People have quit spending money and that means the thieves have fewer people to sell to."

Statistics on rural crime rates are hard to come by. Observers in many parts of California say crime rates seem to have slowed. Along with the economy, they credit new laws and increased vigilance by rural residents.

And they caution that thefts of fuel and crops may increase this summer, as harvest seasons accelerate.

In Stanislaus County, nursery operator Michael Frantz of Frantz Wholesale Nursery in Hickman installed miles of chain link fencing around the perimeter of his family's entire operation, including greenhouses and the yard where plants and trees are stored.

"We have a few miles of fences out here. We have to. If not, people walk away with our plants," Frantz said. "Thieves sometimes try and cut through the fence, but we have a lot better success with fences than without. Any time we expand the nursery, the first thing we do is fence the property."

Frantz, whose family grows woody ornamentals for the landscape market, said they would prefer to do without the cost of having to fence their entire nursery.

"It is kind of San Quentin-like, but the reality is if we don't do it, our plants disappear," Frantz said. "When the fences go up, our theft rate goes down drastically. It is worth the money to put in the fence."

San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation President Phil Brumley of Escalon said farmers and ranchers are more organized than ever before when it comes to crime prevention.

"We send alerts to our Farm Team members throughout the county so they can be on the lookout for any items that have been stolen or to identify equipment that may be recovered," Brumley said. "People are also more diligent about looking for things out of the ordinary, not only for their own properties, but their neighbor's too."

Corda, who farms a few miles north of the U.S. border near Calexico, says incidents of rural crime have slowed significantly in his region. He was a victim of a serious theft last February, losing $130,000 worth of equipment, which included two hay balers and a tractor. Corda said he believes the criminals may have had a "shopping list" of equipment that they needed to locate. The truck and trailer used to steal his balers were stolen from a trucking company in Brawley.

"My farm policy includes theft insurance so my insurance company took care of me, but in my interest to prevent crime I put up some really great lights. Between the fence and added lighting, I probably have at least $20,000 worth of crime prevention installed," Corda said.

Danielle Rau, California Farm Bureau Federation director of rural crime prevention, warns that with harvest usually comes an increase in crime, including theft of commodities.

"We often remind growers of the need to prevent the theft of metals, equipment, chemicals and fuel, but it's important to remember that fruits and vegetables ready to be harvested are also a popular target for thieves," Rau said. "When it comes to preventing crimes on the farm or ranch, farmers must remain vigilant and train their employees to alert them of anything suspicious. Record license numbers and descriptions of suspicious vehicles."

Tulare County farmer Craig Knudsen said in his experience, it is not uncommon for thieves to steal fruit from citrus groves in broad daylight.

"By doing it this way they look like any other crew out there harvesting," he said. "Growers need to think about these things when driving around the farm."

In the first half of 2009, Tulare County Agricultural Crimes Unit Sgt. Rob Schimpf said, thieves have focused on the typical farm items that go missing each year, such as chemicals, fuel, ATVs and tools.

"We are seeing our garden-variety crimes that we see absolutely every year," Schimpf said. "All in all, since probably mid-December to January, when metal fell off the table, it has been very tolerable."

Although metal theft has not gone away completely, detectives and farmers say this costly crime, which plagued both urban and rural communities for the last few years, is no longer such a problem. They cite as factors the lower value for metals and new statewide metal theft laws.

"Things are moving in the right direction. Metal theft is not as prevalent as it was, but there are hit-and-miss cases," Schimpf said. "Recently, thieves tore off a metal commemorative plaque that was part of a memorial to honor the very first election ever held in Tulare County. They cut up the metal and took it to the recycling center. As a result of the new metal theft laws in place, we ended up getting two people in custody."

Steps for preventing crime in the country

The Tulare County Sheriff's Department Agricultural Crimes Unit reminds rural residents to take the following actions to prevent crime on farms and ranches:

Maintain an inventory list of equipment, complete with serial VIN or PIN numbers, make and model, year, color and any other identifying information.
Photograph inventory items for identification purposes in the event of a theft.
Mark your items with an Owner-Applied Number (OAN).
When possible, bring major equipment in from the field each night and adequately secure barns and storage facilities.
If equipment must be left out overnight, leave it in an area where it can be monitored or seen whenever possible. Disable the equipment by disconnecting the ignition or removing the battery.
Do not leave equipment in the back of pickup trucks. Lock all toolboxes and try not to display items of value.
Request that chemicals and other supplies be delivered when needed and do not store them for extended lengths of time. Break any seals on chemical products to deter theft; open containers are of little value, even in an illegal market.

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item. Top