Last year in England and Wales, a number of independent people were elected as regional Police and Crime Commissioners, charged with securing efficient and effective policing in place of the abolished police authorities (see here).
Alan Charles was elected as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire in November 2012, and he has shown that he means business when it comes to tackling wildlife crime. One of his first tasks was to announce that the reduction of wildlife crime was a key focus within his Police and Crime Plan for Derbyshire.
Earlier this year he commissioned a report about wildlife crime in Derbyshire, which was produced by Derbyshire Constabulary and was presented at the force’s strategic governance board meeting in July. The report highlighted the prevalence of wildlife crime in the county; over 200 incidents were reported to the police over the previous year, including the poisoning of birds of prey, badger baiting, hare coursing and poaching. As a result of these findings, Mr Charles called for a wildlife summit to be held, to bring together different agencies to see how they could better report and tackle wildlife crimes in their region (see here).
That summit is taking place today (see here).
Alan Charles is showing strong leadership and vision and we wish him our support and every success.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Hallelujah – hope at last!
Hopefully more commissioners like him can stop the extinction of the Peregrine in the Pennines.
Well done Alan Charles, lets hope that more Commissioners are like him, and help bring to justice the murderers of our countryside.
He has his work cut out for him in that part of the country!! – best of luck to him all the same.
Well done that man, long may he reign.
His entry in Wikipedia gives some cause for hope:-
“In 2012, Charles stood in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections on a platform opposing privatisation of police support services and protecting the vulnerable and victims of crime. He also pledged to fight against a 20% cut to the policing budget of Derbyshire and to focus on domestic abuse. Other pledges included improving road safety, protecting community policing and tackling cruelty to animals.”
Things are looking up. More power to you, Mr Charles.
Police are useless when it comes to tackling wildlife crime – rappers might be taken seriously but hunting or should I say killing with dogs is shamefully ignored.
What heartening news. Mr. Charles seems to be in the right job at the right time. Good luck!
Lets hope that Derbyshire police can get some wildlife criminals in their cells – they seem to have a reputation for over use of strip-search whilst on CCTV – nice!