Police are not Interested in Poachers!!!
- Thread starter Tulloch
- Start date
I have seen some officers poaching themselves lol
I think that is the main problem, it is not actually seen as a crime. The less a copper has do with a firearms in his book the better
stevenedwards
Well-Known Member
If a police officer of what ever rank does not see armed trespass as a crime he or she is not fit to remain in public service. Would any of the police officers here care to comment.
Quite right. Armed trespass should be regarded as a serious matter. I suspect that every police officer I know will agree.
I think that one of the main problems is staffing levels. Not by accident, a lot of poaching goes on at night and at weekends. The police resources by the main at these times find themselves policing the "night time economy", dragged into the town centres to see to our population of well publicised binge drinkers causing criminal damage, picking fights with each other, running off from paying the taxi ride home, getting reported for indecent assaults for pursuing a girl too enthusiastically in some club or going home and having a violent domestic with their partner.
Compare that with the problem of investigating some previously reported poaching incident at a remote farmstead or wood. How can they justify leaving an officer or two in the middle of nowhere at the relevant time in the hope of catching the culprits the next time they come, unable to respond to any other incident? Especially when the poachers will in all probability be having a week off from poaching and getting drunk in that town and causing mayhem there!
So faced with incidents that actually are causing injury or damage, compared to something such as armed trespass, which has the potential to cause injury or damage, with limited resources, it's no wonder that hard decisions have to be made.
That's why it's so important to report every incident. The police are accountable and will seek to address areas where their figures are poor, or be criticised by senior officers. What's more, if you are getting a poor response and wish to complain, then without a history of incidents that don't get any action, how far will that complaint go?
I think that one of the main problems is staffing levels. Not by accident, a lot of poaching goes on at night and at weekends. The police resources by the main at these times find themselves policing the "night time economy", dragged into the town centres to see to our population of well publicised binge drinkers causing criminal damage, picking fights with each other, running off from paying the taxi ride home, getting reported for indecent assaults for pursuing a girl too enthusiastically in some club or going home and having a violent domestic with their partner.
Compare that with the problem of investigating some previously reported poaching incident at a remote farmstead or wood. How can they justify leaving an officer or two in the middle of nowhere at the relevant time in the hope of catching the culprits the next time they come, unable to respond to any other incident? Especially when the poachers will in all probability be having a week off from poaching and getting drunk in that town and causing mayhem there!
So faced with incidents that actually are causing injury or damage, compared to something such as armed trespass, which has the potential to cause injury or damage, with limited resources, it's no wonder that hard decisions have to be made.
That's why it's so important to report every incident. The police are accountable and will seek to address areas where their figures are poor, or be criticised by senior officers. What's more, if you are getting a poor response and wish to complain, then without a history of incidents that don't get any action, how far will that complaint go?
Norrie1956
Well-Known Member
I reported poachers on one of my farms after the farmer found Roe skins and legs..., not a lot happened....in fact, nothing happened...
Fiadh
Well-Known Member
I think Pedro has hit the nail on the head, all our public services are facing huge budget cuts and from what I have seen, have half the staff to do twice the job. Sad to say but I suspect the lack of action you have seen is probably replicated against a broad range of other crimes. Police Scotland had to save 50 million last year and face the same cuts this year, with further huge budget reductions again over the next 8 years. No doubt more rural stations will be closed and more staff lost in the coming months, no wonder Colonel McAskill wants the law on corroboration amended, the chances of having two 'Bobbies' on duty at the same time will soon become a thing of the past.
I work in the security industry so I know all to well on how stretched police are at the weekend and that remedial tasks of anti-poaching do have to take a step aside , however, when you have got an unmarked vehicle in the middle of Drumnadrochit on a very very quiet Thursday night and you have reported a lamp close to your ground and suspicious behaviour then you have to ask questions on why they are not investigating it.
Here is where I think the problem is. each area has a designated wildlife crimes officer in some areas they have a seperate firearms officer, in the highlands we have a wildlife crimes officer that covers hundreds of square miles in one area, when reporting at the station with a witness a beat officer takes your statement but then he goes to one person after another to find out who is in charge of this specific crime in your area only to find out that that person is on holiday and nothing more will be done til they return. When that officer returns from his annual leave and because they are the community officer , every poacher and his dog knows he is back so they wait until they know he is off- duty again, so what you get is a constant circle because it is only one officer out of a whole force area dealing with many incidents.
the highlands have been hit badly this year with poachers nearly everywhere and some making the press with things like the red kite killings. There are hundreds of raids on Farms and estates all over the area looking for signs of persecution of Birds of Prey but what is forgotten about is the dangerous acts of those with illegal firearms patrolling fields and woodlands leaving carcasses, and more recently, taking pot shots at sheep and lambs presumably because they cannot tell the difference between deer eyes and sheep eyes in the lamp.
With all of this you cant help thinking that these activities are now falling on deaf ears, god forbid this, but what happens when landowners like times in the past start taking the law into their own hands???
Me personally I don't really care too much what they do as long as they don't take deer but farm owners etc will care and there i the potential of someone getting seriously hurt if not killed. These people do not care where back stops are or where other properties are like houses it is inevitable it is gonna happen and when it does the police are gonna plead deniabilty or worse face the embarrassment of yet another "told you so" incident.
But also you have to think in the end who will get punished for this?? the ligitimate firearms holders who have time and time again reported such incidents thats who! because it plays into the "antis" hands as they tar everyone with a gun with the same brush no matter whether it is legal or not.
Here is where I think the problem is. each area has a designated wildlife crimes officer in some areas they have a seperate firearms officer, in the highlands we have a wildlife crimes officer that covers hundreds of square miles in one area, when reporting at the station with a witness a beat officer takes your statement but then he goes to one person after another to find out who is in charge of this specific crime in your area only to find out that that person is on holiday and nothing more will be done til they return. When that officer returns from his annual leave and because they are the community officer , every poacher and his dog knows he is back so they wait until they know he is off- duty again, so what you get is a constant circle because it is only one officer out of a whole force area dealing with many incidents.
the highlands have been hit badly this year with poachers nearly everywhere and some making the press with things like the red kite killings. There are hundreds of raids on Farms and estates all over the area looking for signs of persecution of Birds of Prey but what is forgotten about is the dangerous acts of those with illegal firearms patrolling fields and woodlands leaving carcasses, and more recently, taking pot shots at sheep and lambs presumably because they cannot tell the difference between deer eyes and sheep eyes in the lamp.
With all of this you cant help thinking that these activities are now falling on deaf ears, god forbid this, but what happens when landowners like times in the past start taking the law into their own hands???
Me personally I don't really care too much what they do as long as they don't take deer but farm owners etc will care and there i the potential of someone getting seriously hurt if not killed. These people do not care where back stops are or where other properties are like houses it is inevitable it is gonna happen and when it does the police are gonna plead deniabilty or worse face the embarrassment of yet another "told you so" incident.
But also you have to think in the end who will get punished for this?? the ligitimate firearms holders who have time and time again reported such incidents thats who! because it plays into the "antis" hands as they tar everyone with a gun with the same brush no matter whether it is legal or not.
I think it i in other poeples hand now to be fair I will just report what I see from now on.
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