Fox hunting

Version Date: 01/05/2025

The Performance Analysis Department has provided the following information.

Data Sources: Storm and Niche

Data Parameters: I have searched the Storm Incident Universe for incidents with the qualifiers of “Wildlife”, “Rural Crime, and (to cover all basis) “No suitable qualifier” and that also mention one of the below keywords in either the Incident description or comments log…

• Fox
• Red coat
• Hound
• Terrier
• Hunt

The results were reviewed to determine if the call was reporting a fox hunt. (I have not included reports of assaults by hunt members/monitors)

The results were extracted along with any linked Niche IDs in order to cross reference the data obtained from Niche in methods 2 and 3.

Method 2: I searched the Niche Crime Universe for occurrences with “hunting related” listed in either the finalisation class or the NICL qualifier. upon cross referencing this data, 1 additional occurrence was flagged up that related to a report of a fox hunt.

Method 3: I searched the Niche Crime Universe by using a keyword search within the Occurrence Summary for the same keywords as method 1, this provided no additional occurrences relating to reports of fox hunting.

Please note, a single hunt may have been reported multiple times and appear more than once in the data.

This request is to ask for data on incidents and attendances in relation to the fox hunting season (November to March).
 
We would like to ask for:
1)         A figure for the number of incidents of fox hunting recorded in your force area between 01/11/2024 and 31/03/2025.

There were 87 reports of fox hunting.

2)         A figure for the number of times police officers attended an incident or report of fox hunting in your force area between 01/11/2024 and 31/03/2025.

Officers were dispatched to 18 of the 87 reports.

3)         If possible, the dates of any incidents and attendances along with any location details (e.g. partial postcode).
 
To clarify what we mean by the terms we have used in this request:
'Incidents' - reports of fox hunting made by the public, other agencies or recorded by police officers, whether crimed / attended or not.
'Attendances' - occasions where police officers have attended a report of fox hunting whether that be in response to a call from the public or as part of a pre-planned operation / police generated activity.
'Fox hunting' - traditional, organised 'red coat' hunting where horses and / or hounds are used to chase a fox or follow a pre-laid scent trail.
 
We understand that very few police forces have a recording code or category for fox hunting and that a free text search may be the only way to extract this data from your systems. The following search terms are therefore suggested:
'hunt'
'hunting'
'fox hunting'
'red coat hunting'
'fox hunt'
'hounds'
'trail hunting'
'terrier'
 
We also understand that data on fox hunting may be held outside of core police systems by Rural Crime Teams or Wildlife Crime Officers and that they may have the requested information already available. We would ask that this request is also passed to them, or any other team within your force who has responsibility for hunting.

If you are able to provide some, but not all, of the data requested, we would be grateful to receive what is available.