POLICE AND INDUSTRY PARTNERED TOGETHER FOR A SPECIAL POLICE TRAINING EVENT IN SCOTLAND
The Combined Industry Theft Solutions (CITS) group, in partnership with police and industry partners, held a special police training event at Thainstone Agricultural Centre. The event held on the 21st of April, is the first of two specialist training events to be held in Scotland this week.
On the 21st of April 2026, police and leading security experts from industry came together for a one-day training event. The event was opened by CITS Chairman and the Clancy Groups’ head of security, Ian Elliott, and Andrew Huddleston, lead of the National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team (NCATT).
As part of the day, input was given by specialist officers including PS Lauren Semple, Rural Crime Co-ordinator from Police Scotland’s National Rural, Acquisitive & Business Crime Unit, and DS Chris Piggott, UK’s international police liaison officer and Police liaison officers of the official CESAR security marking Scheme.
Further input was also given from Kirsty Hyslop, NFU Mutual’s vehicle crime and MI Specialist, John Mussett, Director of Investigations at CanTrack Global, and Dave Byng, UK Head of Security of Balfour Beatty.
The event welcomed over 60 police officers from regional and specialist police forces within Scotland. These invaluable events are aimed to highlight the current threats and the importance of working in partnerships to tackle crime, in particular to the construction and agricultural sectors. These events are also supported by the Home Office industry scheme, CESAR.
Officers also had the opportunity to learn about the new Registered Asset Police Information Database (RAPID) search application. RAPID is a powerful web-based search tool designed to significantly enhance the speed and efficiency of plant and machinery identification. With advanced mobile technology, RAPID enables officers to access the CESAR Database of over 700,000 registered assets directly from their smartphones, allowing for quick identification of stolen property and swift progress in investigations.Ian Elliott CITS Chairman commented on the success of the day,
“These training events are invaluable to forces especially in times of scarce resource, at CITS we promote a partnership approach to help deter theft in our sectors. CITS are pleased to be able visit Scotland for the second time since 2023 and work closely with Scottish forces to deliver training and develop partnerships. The feedback from the officers on the day was exceptionally positive and makes the efforts from all involved worthwhile.”
CITS work in partnership with police, crime-fighting organisations, and machinery manufacturers, to provide officers with the knowledge and detection techniques to combat equipment theft, in order to be one step ahead of the criminals. The CITS training events are invaluable to aid police in recovering more stolen equipment.
The second police Scotland training event will take place on the 23rd of April at Kelso racecourse.
CITS, an industry forum comprising of representatives from the Home Office, Police, Insurers and Industry will continue to host a series of further, free to attend, police only training events in 2026.
Officers should register their interest for future events, with faye@cits.uk.com.
Further details can be found on the CITS website www.cits.uk.com
