Criminals have been taking advantage of the darker evenings throughout autumn and winter to target fields, isolated communities and rural estates.
This has led to burglaries of rural properties, with power tools, quad bikes and farm machinery being stolen.
There have also been offences targeting wildlife, including poaching and hare coursing.
Last week, several farms in the areas surrounding Stratfield Saye and rural Basingstoke were burgled.
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Burnt out Honda, discovered on Friday morning (Image: Hampshire Constabulary) On Thursday, January 9, Deputy Chief Constable Sam de Reya joined officers on a proactive operation across the county, aimed at disrupting criminals involved in these offences.
The operation ran overnight into the early hours of Friday morning, January 10.
The operation was led by the specialist Country Watch team, with additional support from neighbourhood policing, armed response, the Dog Unit, National Police Air Service (NPAS) and colleagues over the border in Surrey.
A large area of the county was covered by roaming patrols, including the rural towns, villages, estates and country roads in the districts of Basingstoke, Test Valley, Winchester, Hart and East Hampshire.
On Thursday night, officers from the District Policing Team (DPT) were deployed to reports of suspicious individuals walking around a fishery on the River Test.
On attendance, officers were made aware of two individuals and a dog trespassing on nearby farmland in East Wellow.
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PC Stanbrook conducting a check on a piece of farm machinery during the op (Image: Hampshire Constabulary) Police located and spoke to the individuals on the farmland – two teenage boys aged 13 and 14 respectively.
A bag was retrieved from a nearby bush which contained two dead hares.
The Country Watch team will be making further enquiries.
Further north in the county, officers were particularly interested in a silver Honda CR-V which was suspected of being involved in the burglaries which took place earlier in the week.
The vehicle was spotted by officers in the South Warnborough area and efforts were made to pursue and contain it, with aerial support from NPAS and the drone utilised in the early hours of Friday morning.
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PC Stanbrook conducting a stop check of a vehicle in the north of Hampshire during the operation (Image: Hampshire Constabulary) The vehicle had failed to stop for police and is then suspected of making use of the byways and fields in the area to evade detection. The vehicle was later located burnt out.
Units also conducted a number of stop checks of vehicles in the county which were being driven in rural areas late at night, including in Tadley and Andover, and other areas within the Test Valley, Winchester and Hart districts.
Inspector Cath MacDonald said: “Catching criminals involved in this type of offending is just half the battle.
“Prevention is just as important, as we know the significant impact that rural crime is having on our communities living in these remote areas.”