Poaching: Help us to help you

Poaching and rural crime remain a concern for many of our members, and the NGO continues to work closely with the police to make sure the concerns of gamekeepers, land managers and rural communities are properly understood.

As part of that work, we sit on the Police Poacher Priority Delivery Group, which brings together policing representatives and organisations with an interest in tackling poaching and associated rural crime.

This gives the NGO an important opportunity to raise issues directly with the police and to feed back what our members see happening on the ground.

But to do that effectively, we need information from you.

Tell us what is happening in your area

If you are experiencing poaching, lamping, trespassing, hare coursing, illegal off-roading or other associated rural crime, we want to know about it.

It is particularly useful to have information about:

• Where the problem is occurring.
• What type of poaching or rural crime is taking place.
• When and how frequently it is happening.
• Whether vehicles or individuals can be identified.
• Whether incidents have been reported to the police.
• What response you received.
• Whether the police response was helpful and appropriate.
• Where you feel the response could have been better.

This information helps us build a much clearer picture of what is actually happening across the country, rather than relying solely on recorded crime figures.

Good police responses matter too

It is important that we hear about positive experiences as well as problems.

There are many examples of police officers and rural policing teams responding positively to reports of poaching and rural crime, working with landowners and gamekeepers and taking the necessary action.

When that happens, we want to know about it. Positive feedback can be just as valuable as criticism because it allows us to highlight good practice and demonstrate where effective partnership working is making a difference.

Equally, if you have reported repeated incidents and feel that your concerns have not been taken seriously, we need to know that too.

That does not mean every incident will result in an arrest or prosecution. Police resources are limited and officers have to assess the available evidence and deal with incidents according to the circumstances. However, we need to understand where members feel that the response has fallen short, particularly where there is a recurring problem.

Don't assume someone else will tell us

One of the biggest problems with rural crime is that incidents quite often go unreported because people believe that nothing will be done or someone else will report it.

That can create a vicious circle. If incidents are not reported, they may not appear in police intelligence or crime figures, and the scale of the problem can then be underestimated.

Please report incidents through the appropriate police channels, we know that 101 is not fit for purpose but many forces now operate an online form system that automatically sends out a crime number to you and is far quicker than 101. It is important to remember, if a crime is taking place call 999 immediately.

If you have concerns about the way an incident has been dealt with, please let us know the circumstances and, where possible, provide the relevant crime or incident number.

We can then use that information to raise wider issues with the police through the appropriate channels.

We want your feedback

The NGO has worked hard to establish constructive relationships with rural policing teams across England and Wales. Those relationships allow us to raise concerns directly, but we can only do that effectively if we have accurate information from our members.

So, whether you have experienced good policing, poor policing or simply have a persistent poaching problem that you cannot seem to get resolved, please tell us.

Your experience could help us identify patterns, challenge poor practice, recognise officers and teams who are doing a good job, and ultimately improve the way poaching and rural crime are dealt with.

If it is happening in your area, we need to know about it.

Please contact john.clarke@nationalgamekeepers.org.uk with details of significant or recurring poaching and rural crime problems, including any relevant incidents and include crime numbers.