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Wildlife law enforcer of the year award

2011 Winner

Cumbria Constabulary police constable John Shaw has a long work history of leading major prosecutions dating back to 2004. John’s notable and successful investigations into sand marine nest destruction, and illegal trade in barn owls and tortoises cemented his reputation as a diligent investigator.

In addition to taking huge strides in promoting awareness of wildlife crime issues in Cumbria, John has boosted Cumbria Constabulary’s dedication rates in endangered species trade offences by 800 per cent since 2008, significantly increasing the Constabulary’s resources for combating wildlife crime.

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2010 Winner

PC Charles Everitt in his work for the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) investigated 27 wildlife cases last year. Lothian and Borders Police Constable Everitt has been seconded to the NWCU for 18 months as the Scottish Investigative Support Officer, and has worked in wildlife law enforcement for nearly eight years.

Constable Everitt has made a huge contribution to clamping down on wildlife crime in the UK. As part of an international operation coordinated by INTERPOL that seized unlawful goods worth around 9 million euro, he led inspections at Scottish traditional medicine shops for illegal products containing protected species.

He also set up a project which ensured the first successful hatching of peregrine falcon chicks in 15 years at a site regularly targeted for chick theft, and investigated occurrences of deer poaching, hare coursing and unlicensed zoo animals.

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2009 winner

2009 winner, Guy Clarke, is based at London’s Heathrow Airport where he is team leader for the UK Border Agency CITES team (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), working to prevent illegal wildlife goods being smuggling across UK borders.

Wildlife trafficking is a complex area, and Guy has shown determination to tackle it on many fronts throughout the year. He’s been pivotal in boosting the UK Border Agency’s enforcement capability by training more than 100 police and border force officers.

Guy has been a fantastic ambassador for CITES, working to raise public awareness to stop accidental purchases of CITES-listed products. This year he led two challenging investigations into the illegal importation of 200 tortoises – his work within the UK and the country of origin determined that the animals were not captive-bred, leading to their seizure for being illegally imported.

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2008 Winner

Kent Police’s PC Andrew Small was the first officer in the county to undertake the role of Rural and Environmental Crime Coordinator and has been extremely effective. Since taking on the role in 2005 he has:

• ensured tackling wildlife crime is a priority for Kent police.
• led the first investigation testing new laws under the Wildlife and Countryside Act against cetacean harassment. Two men were convicted of harassing the solitary dolphin - Dave the dolphin - that appeared on the South Kent Coast in the summer of 2007. Andrew’s hard work, including gathering evidence from a number of experts, was a major factor in the positive result in court.
• conducted wildlife training for supervisors in Kent Police’s Force Control Room Centre so that call handlers are able to correctly record potential wildlife crime incidents.

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