Norfolk’s Wildlife Crime Officers have a good reputation for dealing with wildlife crime in the County.

Although Wildlife crime is not a main core Police Priority, the work done generates a lot of interest by the press and media and the team have had a lot of high profile cases with successful outcomes in Court.

WCO’s are all volunteers and take on the role on top of their current jobs within the force. They have to be:

• Flexible and prepared to work outside a normal shift pattern
• Have a strong interest in wildlife
• Enthusiastic at all times
• Be prepared to get involved in complicated and often long, drawn out cases.

 

Working as a WCO - Jon Hopes, Wildlife Crime Officer/ Co-ordinator

A typical day would start off in our normal police roles, for me on Broads Beat. This involves checking e-mails, tasking crimes and jobs allocated to me which includes calls relating to wildlife.

The public are often the eyes and ears for Wildlife Crime Officers, so we encourage them to get in contact with us, no matter how small the concern or question.

Wildlife laws are so wide and varied we could get calls about anything: from bats to poaching and badgers to blue bell thefts. No two days are the same.

A well known online auction site now creates a lot of enquiries for WCOs, with people buying and selling a wide variety of animals: live, dead or parts of. Common items such as modern ivory or horn parts, which are used for traditional Asian medicines, often come up. Sometimes this is done in ignorance, other times deliberately and has to be followed up.

My role on Broads Beat is also very relevant to wildlife related crime as it covers a large area of rural Norfolk which is vulnerable to wildlife crime of all varieties. It gives me the opportunity to patrol the area and act as a high visible deterrent to would be wildlife crime offenders.

Where ever possible we will attend the main Rural or Royal shows around the County to promote our work and to meet and educate the public about wildlife crime issues.

 

Wildlife laws and enforcement

Wildlife laws are often complex and it is important that officers are able to understand them to educate others, enforce the law and deal with offenders.

Wildlife crime offenders will often have a good knowledge of the law and their defences, so it is vital that officers can prove their actions are illegal.

To aid the Constabulary in it’s work, the officers liaise with a variety of other agencies involved with wildlife issues, using each others expertise and assistance to effectively target and punish those who commit the crimes.

Farmwatch, Operation Compass and Operation Cockerel are all products of the Constabulary’s work with our Partners. They have, and continue to provide valuable links with the community and help to raise awareness of the Norfolk wildlife and the crimes committed against it.