Wildlife Crime Training and recording of Wildlife Crime
Publication Number: 1562
FOI Number: 20930
Information Request
I am currently working on a project regarding wildlife crime training and the recording of wildlife crime by the police.
Please can you assist with the following.
To make this query less onerous on police time please, I am only requesting data from 1 August 2023 until receipt date of FOI request.
1, Currently how many recognised wildlife trained full time Police officers do you have in your force? Date of FOI request receipt.
2, How many of these officers have undertaken College of Policing recognised training? Date of FOI request receipt.
3, Who was the service provider.
4, How many of these officers are full time Wildlife crime officers. Date of FOI request receipt.
5, How many wildlife incidents that have been reported to your force would fit the recording status below if they had notifiable status under Home Office counting rules?
Section 1 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992
Section 2 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992
Section 3 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992
Section 1 of Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996
Section 1 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 5 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 9 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 11 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 30 of Game Act 1831
Section 5 of the Hunting Act 2004
Section 4 of Animal Welfare Act 2006
Section 8 of Animal Welfare Act 2006
Schedule 1 of Theft Act 1968
Section 27a of Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975
Section 1 of Deer Act 1991
Section 2 of Deer Act 1991
Section 3 of Deer Act 1991
Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004
Section 1 of the Night Poaching Act 1828
Section 18 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 9(4A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 28P of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981
Regulation 43 Conservation of Habitats and Species Regs 2017
Regulation 54 Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017
6, How many wildlife incidents below have been recorded as below?
Section 1 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992
Section 2 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992
Section 3 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992
Section 1 of Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996
Section 1 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 5 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 9 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 11 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 30 of Game Act 1831
Section 5 of the Hunting Act 2004
Section 4 of Animal Welfare Act 2006
Section 8 of Animal Welfare Act 2006
Schedule 1 of Theft Act 1968
Section 27a of Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975
Section 1 of Deer Act 1991 Section 2 of Deer Act 1991
Section 3 of Deer Act 1991
Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004
Section 1 of the Night Poaching Act 1828
Section 18 of Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 9(4A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
Section 28P of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981
Regulation 43 Conservation of Habitats and Species Regs 2017
Regulation 54 Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017
7, How many wildlife incident/crime reports have your force received that have been recorded as “generic/other” (Not to include Livestock Attacks)
8, How many Livestock Attacks has your force received in the time range.
9, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in No Further Action by police.
10, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in a Local resolution.
11, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in a Conditional Caution.
12, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in a charge.
FOI Duty
First Duty – Essex Police does hold information relating to your request.
Second Duty – See below
Fact – See below
Exemption – Not applicable
Essex Police can report as follows:
Caveat: The data and statements are correct as at 31 October 2024
Notes
- Regarding Question 5; in the Athena crime recording system the following Acts were not able to be split by Section and as a result the number of all offences under each Act is given except Theft:
- Wildlife and Countryside Act
- Protection of Badger Act
- Wild Mammals Act
- Deer Act
- Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act
- Conservation (Habitats and Species) Regulation
- Night Poaching Act
*Theft Act, Schedule 1 (taking/destroying of fish/deer) = nothing recorded.
Please also note that of the 98 offences that were recorded, 77 were Non-Notifiable to the Home Office.
- Regarding Question 6; in the STORM incident recording system, Wildlife incidents are largely recorded under “ANIMAL” as the call type.
Results
Q1, Currently how many recognised wildlife trained full time Police officers do you have in your force? Date of FOI request receipt.
A. One.
Q2, How many of these officers have undertaken College of Policing recognised training? Date of FOI request receipt.
A. One (all of them).
Q3, Who was the service provider.
A. National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Q4, How many of these officers are full time Wildlife crime officers. Date of FOI request receipt.
A. One.
Please also note that Essex Police has two Sergeants and eight other Constables (FTE) in the Rural Engagement Team who undertake an assistant role to the Wildlife Crime Officer.
Q5, How many wildlife incidents that have been reported to your force would fit the recording status below if they had notifiable status under Home Office counting rules?
Numbers of Offences – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Act |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Animal Welfare Act 2006 4 (1) (2) 32 (1) |
20 |
|
Animal Welfare Act 2006 SS.4 & 32(1) |
21 |
|
Deer Acts 1991 |
1 |
|
Game Act 1831 as amended by Criminal Justice and Public order Act 1994 S.30 - S.32 |
2 |
|
Hunting Act 2004 SS.1 & 6 |
3 |
|
Hunting Act 2004 SS.5(1)(a) & 6 |
3 |
|
Hunting Act 2004 SS.5(1)(b) & 6 |
1 |
|
Night Poaching Act 1828 |
1 |
|
Protection of Badgers Act 1992(except S.13) |
11 |
|
Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 27B (1) (a) & (b) & (2) (a) & (b) |
1 |
|
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 |
34 |
|
Total |
98 |
Q6, How many wildlife incidents below have been recorded as below?
Number of Wildlife Incidents – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Incidents |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Wildlife Incidents |
3,913 |
Q7, How many wildlife incident/crime reports have your force received that have been recorded as “generic/other” (Not to include Livestock Attacks)
Numbers of Generic Wildlife Incidents – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Incidents |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Animal |
3,121 |
|
Hare Coursing |
212 |
|
Horse Stray |
548 |
|
Poaching |
32 |
|
Total |
3,913 |
Q8, How many Livestock Attacks has your force received in the time range.
Numbers of Worrying Livestock Offences – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Offences |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Dog (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, Dogs Worrying Livestock of Agricultural Land |
15 |
Q9, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in No Further Action by police.
Numbers of Generic Wildlife Incidents with No Further Action Outcome – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Outcome |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
No Further Action Taken by Police (Post Investigation) |
69 |
|
No Outcome Recorded (Ongoing Investigation) |
11 |
|
Action Taken By Police |
12 |
|
Action Taken By Other Agency/Body |
6 |
|
Total |
98 |
Q10, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in a Local resolution.
Number of Generic Wildlife Incidents with Local Resolution Outcome – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Outcome |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Community Resolution |
4 |
Q11, How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in a Conditional Caution.
Number of Generic Wildlife Incidents with Conditional Caution Outcome – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Outcome |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Cautions |
0 |
Q12. How many of these “generic/other” wildlife incident/crime incidents have resulted in a charge.
Number of Generic Wildlife Incidents Resulting in a Charge – August 2023 to October 2024
|
Outcome |
01 Aug 23 - 30 Oct 24 |
|
Charges |
8 |
Every effort is made to ensure that the data provided by Essex Police is accurate and complete. However, Essex Police systems are designed primarily for the management of individual cases and not for the purposes of providing data to answer specific FOI enquiries. Please note although data can be extracted from several sources via database queries, the results may be subject to inaccuracies. Care should be taken to understand our return when considering the interpretation or further use of the data.
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