Each local Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has a duty to produce a policing plan for their area. The plan is a policy document outlining what the local policing priorities should be. Implementation of the priorities via the day to day operations of the force is a management matter and rests with the Chief Constable although it is important to remember that the PCC appoints and can remove the Chief Constable.

Over this week we will be looking at which PCCs have included wildlife crime in their plans and how effective these have been.

We will also look at the personal views of some of out PCCs in relation to fox hunting.

It is important to note that whilst the legislation makes no distinction between fox hunting and hare coursing some organisations such as the National Farmers Union, the Countryside Alliance and fox hunts themselves are keen to separate the two. In their view fox hunting is a traditional country sport or pastime playing an important financial and social role in the rural community. Hare coursing by contrast is reviled as a vicious crime committed by violent thugs who create an atmosphere of terror as they rampage through the countryside in criminal pursuit of their prey. Indeed these two activities are viewed so differently that the Countryside Alliance can simultaneously demand stiffer penalties for one whilst lobbying for the other to be made legal again.