Some good news! The new Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Charles has met with the RSPB and re-iterated his manifesto pledge to tackle wildlife crime and cruelty to animals.
This is excellent news, considering his area covers the notorious raptor persecution hotspot in the High Peak, including the Derwent Valley where the populations of several raptor species have crashed after years of relentless persecution.
Alan Charles said: “I am determined that Derbyshire Police should provide a robust response to incidents of wildlife crime reported to us. We should all be able to enjoy the fantastic spectacle of birds of prey like peregrines, goshawks and buzzards soaring overhead when we are out enjoying the beautiful Derbyshire countryside. Those who destroy these amazing birds are diminishing our quality of life“.
For the full press release, see here.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Great news! Let us hope that all Police Commissioners follow Alan Charles possitive examble.
Small world – my comments below were posted to Raptor Politics website late last night and are awaiting moderation:
Peak District National Park – an almost Raptorless experience!!
Last week along with my wife I spent several days in stunning weather/scenery walking and driving around Dark Peak and surrounding areas.
Day 1 – Digley Reservoir. A single Buzzard being mobbed by 2 crows.
Day 2 – Derwent Reservoir, etc. Almost a whole day spent in this area and not a single raptor seen. Highlights of that day included 12 Whooper swans,a single treecreeper and a day flying Pipistrelle bat.
Day 3 – Castleton and Edale area – not a single raptor seen. Later in the day we headed towards the outshirts of Sheffield and recorded 2 Kestrels.
Over the years I’ve read several reports/articles highlighting problems of persecution in this area – seeing it for myself really brought the reality home – I’d like to ask the question – what is Natural England doing to try and rectify this problem?
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Lets hope he lives up to his pledge and does something about the blatant Raptor persecution in the Peak District and surrounding areas, who knows, maybe he’ll set a precedent that other police forces will follow.
So far so good, but actions will count louder than words.
The actual police and crime plan has yet to be made public/appear on the website http://www.derbyshire-pcc.gov.uk/Your-PCC/Priorities.aspx
It will be of interest to see what happens when the PCC tells the Chief Constable what he wants done and the Chief Constable then replies that the aims are all very well, but available resources are only capable of achieving part of that.