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Guy Shorrock (RSPB)
Achievement award went to Sgt
Rob Taylor of the North Wales Police.
Chief Constable Simon Prince said it
was unlikely that wildlife crime
would beceome a policing priority,
but Authorised Professional Practice
(APP) guidance documents were
being prepared for wildlife crime.
Chief Inspector Martin Sims, Head
of the National Wildlife Crime Unit
(NWCU), told about work of his unit
and the levels of intelligence
exchange. Other significant
presentations came from Guy
Clarke of Border Force, Sue
Hemming of the CPS and Alan
Charles, the Police Crime
Commissioner for Derbyshire. There
was the usual interesting mix of
case studies and workshops.
the capacity of the statutory
agencies to address wildlife crime.
The project is grateful for support
from Procurator Fiscal Kate Fleming,
the NWCU, DC Sarah Bailey of the
Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime
Unit and the Border Force CITES
Team at Heathrow.
Once again, big thanks to
Craig Fellowes of the Wildlife
Training Consultancy for organising
the event, and for the additional
financial support provided by the
World Animal Protection and
the Humane Society International.
Guy Shorrock (RSPB)
WWF Wildlife Law Enforcer of the Year for 2015 PC Mark Goulding receiving his award
Awards presented at Wildlife
Crime Enforcers’ Conference
The 27th annual conference was held in Warwickshire in November 2015.
The conference welcomed Greek
Customs officer, Petroula Pyrgi.
Her six-day UK visit was funded
by an EU LIFE project, Return of
the Neophron, about the survival
of Egyptian vultures in the Balkans.
Part of the project seeks to improve
Fingerprinting ivory
Sgt Rob Taylor with his PAW Award and Chief Constable Simon Prince
New techniques for retrieving fingerprints from ivory have been developed.
Helen Bulmer (NWCU) and Sam Trackman’s (Border Force) received awards
The good work tackling wildlife
crime was recognised with awards.
The WWF-Sponsored Wildlife Law
Enforcer of the Year Award 2015 was
PC Mark Goulding of South Wales
Police, currently on secondment to
Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
Mark and his NRW colleauges
developed the River Taff Project,
which has helped reduce fish
poaching and a number of
prosecutions are ongoing. He was
also involved in a prosecution about
the release of wild boar following
a commercial burglary.
Helen Bulmer (NWCU) and Sam
Trackman (Border Force) received
the Wildlife Crime Operation of the
Year award for the ‘Cobra 3’ CITES
operation. PAW Certificates of Merit
went to Madeline Groves and to
Aaron Christiansen. A Lifetime
Scientists from King’s College
London and University College
London have collaborated with
imaging and fingerprint experts from
the Metropolitan Police to validate
the use of new techniques.
Their findings, published in the
journal Science and Justice, could
lead to the wider use of
fingerprinting methods in the field.
This should help to identify poachers
in regions with high levels of
ivory-related crime. Ivory itself is a
highly porous and ridged material,
so fingerprints enhanced with
conventional powders have been
largely ineffective.
In recent years, newer powders
with smaller particles have been
developed, and these show more
detail, as they require less finger
mark residue. The latest study
tested three types of powders
on elephant tusks loaned by the
Metropolitan Police Wildlife Crime
Unit. It was found that two of the
newer powders were able to give
the clear, useable fingerprint detail
that is vital for identifying the donor.
The clarity of ridge detail was at its
highest within seven days after the
print was deposited, so the method
is likely to work best in regions of
the world that are closest to the
sources of ivory. However, with
the new powder, imaging and
fingerprint experts were able to lift
some useable prints up to 28 days
after they were deposited.
The researchers showed how the
powders could be used with rhino
ivory, hippo teeth and sperm
whale teeth.
It is hoped that new fingerprinting techniques for ivory
will help bring wildlife criminals to justice in the future
Metropolitan Police
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