Police Crackdown Slashes Hare Coursing in Kent and Surrounding Counties
Kent Police and six other forces have teamed up to smash rural crime, slashing hare coursing reports by up to 37%. The bold move scrapped force borders, making it easier to catch and prosecute offenders.
Seven Forces Act as One to Stop Hare Coursing
From Bedfordshire to Essex, police forces have joined forces under a deal backed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). This agreement lets them operate across borders using shared powers, including automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), dog seizures, and tracking suspects.
Sergeant Darren Walshaw of Kent Police’s Rural Task Force revealed:
“By working collaboratively we have been significantly more effective and this has resulted in a reduction in reports of hare coursing.”
Reported incidents in the region dropped 31%, while Kent saw a massive 37% plunge—from 523 cases between September 2020 and March 2021 down to 329 in the following six months.
Rural Communities Urged to Join the Fight
Hare coursing, a brutal blood sport that damages crops and packs a punch of intimidation, traditionally kicks off in September. Landowners are being advised to secure their fields with fencing, ditches, trees, or concrete-filled barrels to keep illegal coursers out.
District Crown Prosecutor Sally Robinson said:
“Those who commit hare coursing have historically exploited the borders of neighbouring forces to continue their illegal activities, causing the extreme suffering and unlawful killing of hares, whilst also having a harmful effect on our rural communities.”
She added:
“By using the legal expertise of the CPS and the operational knowledge of seven police forces in an innovative and collaborative way to effectively remove those borders, we have collectively built stronger cases for prosecution and made it harder for the perpetrators to offend in the future.”
See It? Report It! Stay Safe
If you spot hare coursing in action, call 999 immediately. Get detailed descriptions—people involved, vehicle types, registration numbers, locations, and direction of travel. Don’t confront suspects yourself.
For information on past incidents or if you’re a victim, ring 101 or report online via Kent Police’s website.
