Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Crackdown on rural crime
Gamekeepers have welcomed a huge clampdown on rural crime across the North of England. The joint operation being undertaken by nine police forces covers an area extending from South Yorkshire to the Scottish border and will target poachers and rural thieves.
As well as intelligence sharing and joint prosecutions, the operation will also use a ‘community protection notice’ (CPN) that covers the entire area. Historically, police forces used a range of antisocial behavior powers to manage poachers, alongside their powers under the criminal law. However, ASBOS and CPNS that replaced them were restricted to specific areas, and poachers often simply travelled elsewhere to offend. The new regionwide CPN will cover the entire North of England, making it more difficult for an individual to find a new patch to poach.
A National Gamekeepers’ Organisation spokesperson said: “We are delighted that Northumbria Police have been proactive in helping to tackle poaching, which is by far the most widespread wildlife crime and one that doesn’t get the headlines that it ought to.
“The joint CPN initiative, which combines so much of the North of England, should make a real difference and ensure that, when working with the police on crimes carried out by poachers, gamekeepers can have confidence that action will be taken.”