On video: agricultural crime intensifies: "enormous damages" (photo: Shaul Hefetz)
Some of the deficiencies in the Israel Police's dealings with agricultural crime have not yet been corrected.
This is according to a follow-up audit that is included in the State Comptroller's report published today (Tuesday). The previous report on the subject was submitted six years ago, in May 2017.
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From the conversations of the employees of the auditor's office with farmers it emerged that they are discouraged by the "incompetence of the police in dealing with agricultural crime" as they defined it, and "feel neglected by the state".
The report also states that farmers claimed in various settings that a significant portion of the crime incidents are not reported to the police, due to a lack of trust in the enforcement systems and due to the lack of insurance for stolen property, which stems from the refusal of insurance companies to insure agricultural property. However, according to the State Comptroller, the police did not examine whether indeed Under-reporting was recorded and what are the reasons for it. It was also found that the MGB does not have a systematic action plan aimed at encouraging farmers to complain to the police after an incident of agricultural crime.
The monitoring report found that 79% of the investigation files opened for agricultural crimes were closed in the years 2017-2021, most of them (70%) were closed due to an "unknown criminal", that is - there is difficulty in apprehending criminals who commit agricultural crimes. However, this is an improvement Compared to the data that appeared in the report six years ago: in the previous audit it was found that 94% of all the cases opened in 2011-2015 for agricultural crimes were closed;
Most of them (76%) were closed on the grounds of "criminal unknown".
In the follow-up audit, it was found that the chances of an offender being caught in agricultural crimes increased significantly compared to the previous report - from 4.25% to about 18%. The calculation method of the offender's chances of being caught is the proportion of indictments that were filed out of all the cases that were opened. The State Comptroller's Office positively notes The significant increase in the rate of indictments filed in the years 2017-2021 for agricultural crime, and compared to the rate of indictments filed in the previous audit. This significant increase indicates a positive trend in the handling of agricultural crime by the police.
A fire at a farm in Nahalel (photo: KBA spokesmen, North Fire and Rescue)
The audit also revealed that in 2021, 977 investigation files were opened for agricultural crimes.
The average rate of indictments filed in the years 2017-2021 out of all investigation files opened for agricultural crime is 18% (827 out of 4,602).
In the previous report, it emerged that 22 out of 26 positions in the AHM MGB were not filled. In the current audit, it emerged that in the AHM MGB headquarters, as of January 2022, there were 42 positions in the standard and all of them were filled. It also appears that in the previous audit, gaps in means were found The technologies that were at the disposal of the Police in its war on agricultural crime.
In the follow-up audit, it was found that AHM MGB has strengthened in recent years, thanks, among other things, to the contribution of the Bina Center to strengthening its intelligence and technological capabilities.
However, the intelligence center is still not fully available to the police units fighting agricultural crime.
The report indicates that many working hours of the rural police officers, and especially of the South and Central police officers, were dedicated to escorting detainees. In the years 2019-2021, traveling and waiting for detainees amounted to approximately 72,000 hours, which is equivalent to approximately 2,526 working days of policeman on average per year. The meaning of the many working days dedicated to escorting detainees is that, in fact, every year, at least 10 full-time police officers were only engaged in escorting detainees instead of detective and investigation tasks. In the years 2019-2021, the MGB held approximately 900 detainees and carried out approximately 4,500 escorts of Arrested by approximately 9,000 MGB officers. The solution to this, as also agreed in 2019 between the police and the MGB, is that the "Nachshon" unit of the prison service will also pick up the suspects arrested in the MGB's rural areas, but in practice this is not carried out in this way.
State Comptroller Mattaniho Engelman (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Comptroller Engelman states in the report that the police and the National Security Agency must continue to act to prevent agricultural crime, among other things by increasing the presence of Security Agency units in the field with the understanding that a prominent presence of forces in the field will create a deterrent for criminals which will lead to a reduction in the number of cases of agricultural crime. In addition, The police and the MGB must ensure that the time of the MGB's detectives and investigators is mainly devoted to investigative and detective tasks and not guarding, transporting and escorting detainees. They must also formulate a systematic plan to strengthen public trust in the rural area. The police and the MGB must examine the The organizational changes carried out in the Police, while drawing lessons from the gaps created as a result, and it is also suggested to examine the effect of these changes on the sense of security of the citizens in the rural area.
The chairman of the Israel Farmers Association and the secretary general of the Moshavim movement, Amit Yafarah, said in response to the report: "Agricultural crime has become a scourge and a major threat to Israeli farmers all over the country.
This issue only worsens over the years and harms both the sense of security of the farmers and the residents in the rural area and also causes heavy economic damage and damage to the agricultural produce.
I call on the Israeli government to take seriously the State Comptroller's report, to add dedicated budgets and massive manpower to increase enforcement against the perpetrators of agricultural crime."
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Matanyahu Engelman
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