Northumbria Police rural officers get specialist Wildlife Act training in bid to prevent poaching

Northumbria Police’s rural crime team delivered training about the Wildlife Act to officers based in remote areas last month.

Chief Inspector Phillip Mcconville said: “It is so important that our officers covering the most remote parts of the force are given specialist training to help them protect and serve the communities they police to the very best of their abilities.

“This training adds further powers to help us in the crackdown against poaching, which has already seen some fantastic results.

“In 2022, the number of reported poaching offences in Northumbria dropped to almost half the number from two years prior.”

Poaching, often involving the use of dogs to indiscriminately kill wildlife and causing damage to fields and fences, is a priority for rural crime officers, Northumbria Police says.

Chief Inspector Mcconville added: “We are looking to continue the momentum we gained in policing these types of offences last year and produce some more positive results in 2023.

“This training is a fantastic start, and we are already reaping the benefits of upskilling our officers in recognising the signs of poaching.

“It is so important to us that we offer an outstanding service to every community and that is why it is essential we recognise that each neighbourhood has different policing needs and challenges.

“This is just one area of additional training that we are investing in for our rural officers over the coming weeks and months.”

This follows another training scheme focused on roads policing for rural officers.