DAY 56: Milton Keynes wildlife officer gives talk to local schools on wildlife and rural crime

On Tuesday (14/1), PC Andy Perry, one of the Thames Valley Police wildlife officers, gave the second of his five planned talks to local schools on wildlife and rural crime.

Andy later explained he was very impressed with the knowledge the year 6 pupils at Olney Middle possessed about some of the issues he discussed.

PC Andy Perry talking about wildlife crime to a local school

There are currently four wildlife officers within Thames Valley. These officers conduct their wildlife duties alongside their normal day to day shift work as a police constable.

• Issues wildlife officers will investigate include:
• Hare coursing
• Poaching
• Collecting birds of prey eggs
• Killing protected species and collecting skins (either for personal collection or to sell them on)
• Destroying protected habitats such as bat roosts
• Taxidermy offences

Hare coursing is one of the rural crime focuses for Thames Valley Police. Listen to our podcast to hear PC Dean Kingham tell us why it is such a problem for rural communities.

Elsewhere, PC Caroline McLaughlin took on the responsibility for the running the daily ANPR checks.

She and colleagues identified the most commonly used routes in and out of the county (cross border areas are notorious rat runs for offenders wanting to make a quick escape) and yesterday (14/1), she set up on the A428 just outside Lavendon. 

Monitoring ANPR

ANPR operation in progress

Out of 160 number plates read, six vehicles were stopped and dealt with for various traffic related offences such as no insurance.

DAY 14 and 15: Multi-agency ANPR operation to tackle metal thefts in Maidenhead

The aim of this operation using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras was to disrupt and prevent crime in the rural area by pulling over vehicles of interest, or those which have been highlighted as ‘used in crime’ previously.

Although the team were specifically on the lookout for vehicles which could be linked with rural crime and in particular, metal thefts (metal theft is often linked to rural crime as stolen agricultural machinery and tools can be sold on illegally as scrap metal), other offences and the offenders are caught during these operations because obviously, you never know who is going to be driving past!

The ‘multi-agency’ bit of the operation came in the form of support from VOSA (with the Environment Agency and Datatag helping out on Day 15). VOSA are able to use specific ‘civil’ powers such as prohibition orders which are used to get dangerous cars and vehicles off the road and keep them off if until they conform to the legal MOT standards.

During the operation, the police team pulled over a car for no insurance which was then seized under Section 165. As VOSA were there too, they carried out checks and were able to put a prohibition order onto the vehicle for two bald tyres and a frayed seatbelt. This means the driver can’t simply drive away an un-roadworthy vehicle once insurance has been sorted out under the Police order.



Car being seized for no insurance and at the same time was put on a prohibition order for being un-roadworthy



The team also pulled over larger, commercial vehicles like Transit vans and flat bed trucks or others which are often used to steal larger farm tools or ferry stolen scrap metal from one place to another. The team set up on the A4 and throughout the day pulled over 18 of these types of vehicles and all appeared to be in order!



Police officer and VOSA making sure all is in order with a flat bed truck