Hare coursing drops by a third due to borderless policing success

Incidents of hare coursing across the east of England have fallen by almost one-third after seven police forces joined together to crack down on the rural crime.

Borders between the forces – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent – were removed when using certain tactics, which has made apprehending and prosecuting offenders easier.

The agreement, completed with the support of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), means the forces become one when using certain powers.

See also: Borderless policing to crack down on hare coursing

Over the past six months this has helped with the use of automatic number plate recognition, the seizure of dogs and sharing intelligence on people suspected to be involved in hare coursing, including their movements and meetings.

Hare coursing incidents across the seven force areas fell from 2,044 in 2020-21 to 1,415 in 2021-22, a drop of 31%.

‘Great achievement’

Sergeant Tom Nuttall, from Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s rural crime team, said the forces had also issued warnings and criminal behaviour orders to deter hare coursers.

“This is a great achievement by all seven forces and the CPS,” he said.

“Our collaboration shows how determined we are to tackle the barbaric actions of a few that cause significant physical and mental harm to those in our rural communities.

“We will continue with the collaboration and continue to work together to further reduce illegal coursing, lamping and poaching.”

Legal expertise

Sally Robinson, a district crown prosecutor for the CPS, said hare coursers have historically exploited the borders of neighbouring forces to continue their crimes.

“By using the legal expertise of the CPS and the operational knowledge of seven police forces in an innovative and collaborative way to effectively remove those borders, we have collectively built stronger cases for prosecution and made it harder for the perpetrators to offend in the future.”

In April, new measures to help the police crack down on illegal encampments and hare coursing on private land in England became law through amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

NFU vice-president David Exwood said the new measures were “fantastic news” for rural communities that suffer from “destructive and intimidating criminal activity”.