Project Poacher

West Mercia Police Logo

West Mercia Police LogoWest Mercia Police have this week highlighted Project Poacher, an initiative set up by England and Wales Poaching Priority Delivery Group which includes the National Wildlife Crime Unit and is chaired by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation.
In a post on their website WMP state,

Poachers have little regard for the countryside and no regard for any wildlife or the farmer’s land that they trespass on. Poachers rarely carry out their business for food these days, animals can be stolen for use in illegal and cruel sport, they often work in groups, pursuing animals such as rabbits, deer and pheasants that fall under the heading “game”.
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Project Poacher has two key elements; advice and support for law enforcers and a free, easy to use app for reporting poaching incidents.The app is available to download at www.projectpoacher.com
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If you see or are aware of poachers on your land or the land of someone else without permission call the police on 101 (or if a crime is taking place call 999). Give the call taker as much information as you have including location, vehicles used, how many offenders and if there are firearms

Much more information can be found on the Poaching and Rural Crime page of the BASC website. The information includes the following advice:

Importance of reporting poaching
One of the issues surrounding poaching is that while it is a crime, it is not classed as a recordable offence by Home Office statistics, which means it is difficult to obtain accurate figures. Another concern is the amount of under-reporting of poaching and indeed other rural crime. It is therefore important that we act as one to combat poaching and rural crime therefore reporting all incidents.
What to do if you have poachers on your land
If you see or are aware of poachers on your land/permission and want them off, call the police. Only you can decide whether this is a 999 or a 101 call (101 is the non-emergency number to report incidents). If you are being threatened or damage is being caused, then that is urgent and 999 should be used. Give the call taker as much information as you have, such as vehicles used, how many offenders, do they have firearms, etc.  Also you will need to give as good a location as you can, especially at night.  However, the most important thing is to get an incident or log number for what you are reporting.
You might be told that there is nobody to send immediately, but insist on the incident/log number. Ask for the incident to be forwarded to the Wildlife Crime Officer and the local beat officer. It is a good idea to do this whether police attend or not.  Tell the call taker that this is a wildlife crime and needs to be recorded as such. This last point makes it easier to monitor the number of poaching offences and, hence, the true picture will emerge.