An exclusive countryside? Crime concern, social exclusion and community policing in two English villages

Using the example of two English villages, this paper examines whether rural crime concern is evidence of an 'exclusive society' in the countryside. Specific attention is given to concerns expressed by residents as part of a consultation exercise to establish community-based policing partnerships in rural areas of the West Mercia Constabulary. Based on these findings, the paper goes on to question whether local policing partnerships are capable of shaping idyllic visions of rural space in an exclusionary way. It is argued that while it is important to examine the spatialised rhetoric of rural crime concern, structural processes, rather than localised discourses, make a greater contribution to exclusion in the countryside. © 2010 Taylor & Francis