The team was launched in October 2019, and has since doubled in size comprising of a Sergeant and eight warranted Police Constables who have their own designated areas of the county that they cover, plus a County Coordinator who monitors incidents reported into the police and ensures, where relevant, they are followed up by one of the team.

In addition they have 12 Wildlife Officers around the county who are part of the local policing teams and 8 Rural Crime Special Officers.

The importance of reporting to the police any crime or suspicious activity cannot be stressed enough, both to address whatever is happening, but also to make the police aware so, if there is any hot spot area or trend they need to be aware of, they can allocate their resources effectively. If the Police don’t know about it, they can’t do anything about it. 

If you see any offence or suspicious incident, including a possible wildlife crime, report it to the police: 

If the crime is in progress call 999 straight away.

If it is to pass on some information or the incident has already happened this can be reported online at www.warwickshire.police.uk or by calling 101.

Information on wildlife crime, crime prevention, alerts and incidents, plus good news stories are available on a dedicated website www.warwickshireruralwatch.co.uk, where, if you wish, you can enter your email and receive alerts from the police for your area.

There are also three Facebook pages you can follow: Warwickshire Rural Crime Team, Warwickshire Rural Watch and Warwickshire Wildlife Watchers which will also keep you updated.