Lincolnshire Police tackles organised crime and illegal gambling behind hare coursing threat
Lincolnshire Police have taken a 'bold and brave' approach to combating hare coursing — as part of their fight against organised crime and illegal gambling.
And early figures have shown a 'substantial decrease' in offences.
The flat landscape of Lincolnshire proves popular with coursers, a bloodsport where sight hounds such as lurchers and greyhounds chase down hares.
The internet age has seen coursing become even more lucrative for criminals as chases are now streamed online to allow gamblers across the country and beyond to place bets on their favoured dogs.
In an attempt to halt this, the police's Rural Crime Action Team was formed last year, forming part of the Specialist Operation Team, which includes the Road Policing Unit, dog section and drone team.
"What we've got now is a whole team approach that is focused on targeting the criminals that engage in hare coursing, but also engage in other crimes as well," said Lincolnshire Police's Superintendent Lee Pache.
"There's been a substantial decrease in hare coursing offences at this moment in time.
"We focus on the criminals. Invariably, these are people from outside of the county, the vast majority.
"They have a significant, in the main, record of offending, some serious offences.
"For example, people from organised crime groups that have a history of serious violence, offences with weapons and firearms, including targeting shops to rip out ATM machines — people we don't want in our county.
"They don't come here just for hare coursing, they're also committing other offences."
Lincolnshire Police are one of 36 forces sharing intelligence on hare coursing through Operation Galileo, while a change in the law which makes travelling equipped to hare course an offence has brought additional powers.
But while coursing remains an lucrative enterprise, there will be criminals willing to take big risks.
"It's linked to organised crime. This is being live streamed on the internet and significant sums of money are being bet, not just in the country," Supt Pache added.
"There have been large sums of money placed on which dog catches the hare. There's a big financial driver behind this.
"But they're not just breaking the law, they bring danger and risk to land owners and road users, to police officers and the wider public.
"These individuals react like they've just robbed a bank when they see a police vehicle.
"Two weeks ago I was out on patrol at Swineshead and when offending vehicles spotted an unmarked car, they instantaneously drove off dangerously, collided with a bus, collided with another car and were jumping over gates and across fields. One individual hid in deep cold water.
"They could have easily killed somebody. and there's a lot of history of them deliberately ramming police vehicles.
"A week later, another example, a large 4x4 drove up the A17 through the middle of traffic and then drove off road and through somebody's property, their garden.
"They don't think twice about the public and road users. These are horrible individuals and the impact they have is far greater than hare coursing alone."
As well as the danger to the public, hare coursing also causes significant damage to farmland, while police are counting the cost to damaged vehicles.
But police feel they are gradually winning the battle and deterring coursers entering the county.
"In just one month alone 22 people were arrested, we seized seven vehicles and equally 34 dogs had been recovered," added Supt Pache.
"They've either been seized or left behind by offenders who tried to make good their escape.
"That's quite important as these dogs are at the crux of this sport, as they call it. It's not a sport, it's a crime.
"These dogs are worth a significant amount of money and are used as part of national and international betting. So when they lose them that has a massive impact.
"The intelligence we're getting now is that offenders are avoiding Lincolnshire because they're seeing so many dogs lost and seized, or so many vehicles seized and people arrested.
"We've made a significant investment in time and resources, but we've gone bold and brave early on because ultimately, we want to prevent offences happening in the first place.
"It's still very early, but our hope is this approach has had the desired effect and criminals will not risk coming into Lincolnshire."
How can the public help?
Lincolnshire Police are making strides in battling hare coursing in the county.
But how can the public help if they spot suspected hare coursing?
Supt Lee Pache explained: "If you see a crime being committed then call the police straight away. A crime in action is classed as an emergency so I'd personally request they ring 999.
"We would assess the resources available to switfly deal with that.
"It is important the public also provide evidence if they can - if they video an event taking place or they've got vehicle registration numbers.
"But I don't want people to put themselves at risk. These individuals, some have serious history of crime and violence.
"The best thing is to get description, location and registration number and what direction they're travelling in if they've left the area."
