Got the ok for my meeting with the heritage crime officer and his boss today which I'm quite excited about. My idea was to ask more about heritage crime in Sussex including how much of a problem it might be and what sort of things the officers have to deal with. I'm also interested in how hard they find it to prosecute and what the Community can do to help.
I appreciate that illegal metal detecting is only one type of heritage crime but given that many detectorists go out in the field then it would be good to know what sort of dodgy activity to look out for and report including dodgy metal detectorists!
If anyone has any suggestions about what sort of questions you would ask if you were meeting with a couple of heritage crime officers then please let me know.
I'd ask (in the context of metal detecting) in what way, based on their experience and what they see, responsible artefact hunters and collectors could usefully press for the law to be changed, where are the barriers to catching and prosecuting offenders? For example would a register of who has whose permission to be where when with a metal detector be of use in spotting those who are artefact hunting without permission and a way of differentiating responsible detectorists from those who should be stopped and questioned?
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul. It would be interesting to see what their general policy is if the police see a person in a field with a detector. I don't know if they automatically presume they are there legally or not.
ReplyDeleteAnd what they do if they see people lurking around field armed with pointy trowels.
ReplyDeleteThere are enough statute laws which can be used and are being used to prosecute those guilty of illicit metal detecting activity. There is no need to enact any more to deal with a small criminal element. This is always on the wish lists of the detractors who want to have licences introduced for detecting which is a total nonsense; criminals are not the responsible ones and a licence would be the last thing on their mind.
ReplyDeleteThe Police do stop and pay attendtion to cars parked in field corners at night and will take an interest in detectorists seen in their local patch and will speak to them and to confirm that they have permission and so on. Criminals would have to be pretty bold to start searching in daylight on a field anywhere as it would not only be the Police who would spot them. The real question surrounds the perceptions of what is Heritage Crime and despite the best efforts of some with an agenda to suggest otherwise, illicit detecting comes well down on the list.
I would suggest you discuss the issues of negative access policies used by large estates and institutional landowners which give a clear green light to nighthawks as they know that there is no legitimate competition and they can carry out their activities with a better result. There is no easier way to deter nighthawks than for the land to be searched by responsible detectorists with permission. Obviously arable SAM's cannot be searched legally without the correct permissions for EH and so on.
Another question would be to clarify the reporting of illicit detecting incidents usually by 999 or 101 depending upon it being a crime ongoing or the aftermath. There may be other mechanisms operating in your area. Local detectorists are the best enforcers to report illicit activity as they will know the likley areas where such activity occurs and can help provide intelligence information to the Police so they can act.
Another issue is the evidence of illcit activity having taken place such as holes dug into cropped fields , but this need to be treated with caution as a lot of so called evidence is in fact the result of animals, usually badgers digging for food and they make a real mess. I have seen such evidence reported as being proof of the avctivities of nighthawks only to find it being badger diggings for food or use as latrines.
To get a good overview of the situation with respect to all Heritage Crime, i would suggest you get in touch with Mark Harrison who is Policing and Crime Advisor for English Heritage. Mark was formely a Chief Inspector with the Kent Constabulary and is very much the man in the know on Heritage Crime having been involved in many illicit detecting and heritage crime incidents.
Hope all went well.
Good morning Mark Harrison here. I would be delighted to give you a call/Skype. I work very closely with CI Martin Sims and his team in Sussex Police. You can reach me on mark.harrison@english-heritage.org.uk here is a the link to my webpages http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/advice/advice-by-topic/heritage-crime/
DeleteThanks Steve for that, i'm just awaiting some dates (as it was just the ok for meeting i got yesterday) now so will definately consider what you've sent. No idea how long i've got with them which will obviously effect what i can ask. The negative access point is interesting. Cheers for the contact I'll see how the meeting goes, when it does, then perhaps get in touch wtih Mark.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that licensing is needed or advocated to reduce the damage by nighthawks is false. It's not nighthawks that cause the vast preponderance of heritage knowledge it's law-abiding detectorists.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone knows that's a fact. A sine qua non of being a responsible detectorist is saying it.
Good morning, my name is Mark Harrison and I am the National Policing and Crime Advisor for English Heritage. I would be delighted to give you a call or Skype to help you prepare for your meeting. Could you drop me a line mark.harrison@english-heritage.org.uk and here is the link to my webpages http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/advice/advice-by-topic/heritage-crime/
ReplyDeleteThanks mark, I certainly will when I get a spare moment and after I've read your read web page :)
ReplyDelete