Rural Crime
Wildlife Crime
Anecdotally, there has been a considerable increase in the level of wildlife crime. In the case of offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act police officers have powers to stop, detain and search and to seize items, but not to arrest (none of the penalties being sufficiently severe to qualify the offences to which they relate as arrestable under Section 24 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, PACE).
An officer can however arrest for a non-arrestable offence if he believes that the particular circumstances of the case make it necessary. Section 25 of PACE sets out the conditions, including where the person involved refuses to give his name and address or gives a fictitious name and address. The Wildlife and Countryside Act refers to the possibility of arrests in accordance with Section 25.
There is a network of police wildlife liaison officers, while the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has a Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime Group (PAW) which focuses on improving protection for endangered and vulnerable species. The Group includes police representatives.
A particular problem, though not directly an offence, to which some attention has been given recently, is hare coursing without the land-owner’s consent. Gangs of men trample across farm and other private land to engage in this activity, which is linked to gambling. Land-owners who remonstrate have been abused, threatened and assaulted.
Legislation which can be used to address this problem includes the Public Order Act 1986 and the trespass provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. A further measure that has been proposed is the introduction of a close season for the hare, which would create an easily identifiable offence.
The Guide to Wildlife Law Enforcement in the UK , published by DEFRA (1998), is intended as a practical guide for anyone in wildlife law enforcement. It is not a legal document but it does contain many of the legal provisions that apply to the protection of wildlife. It also gives useful and pragmatic advice on the prevention of offences and the detection and prosecution of offenders. It is directed principally at practitioners within the law enforcement, government and conservation agencies
Last update: 09/09/03