A Wiltshire Police officer has been ‘booted out of her specialist role’ after a protest and petition.
PC Cheryl Knight, who has links with the now-banned Avon Vale Hunt, was appointed a rural crime officer – sparking a major row between anti-hunt activists and the force.
Following the announcement of her new role, a petition was created. It amassed a staggering 41,000 signatures and a protest outside the police HQ in Devizes took place on Sunday 5 March.
Since the outcry, Wiltshire Police has carried out a “review” of their “resourcing and policing approach”.
“We commissioned an internal review of our Rural Crime Team (RCT), which has resulted in us establishing a framework to ensure the suitability of our personnel working within the unit”, a force spokesperson wrote.
They continued: “The new framework will provide more scrutiny around the suitability of our officers, staff and volunteers to work within the unit. It sets out key principles to ensure staff do not have personal links to hunts past or present, do not have links to any anti-hunt groups past or present and requires staff disclose links to any rural based hobby or initiative that could potentially call into question their policing impartiality.
“This has already resulted in some staffing changes although it would not be appropriate for us to comment on individual cases.”
Wiltshire Police refused to confirm if PC Knight had been removed from her role, but Wiltshire 999s understands that she has.
A spokesperson for Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs, who spearheaded the campaign to have the officer removed from her role in rural crime due to her hunting links, welcomed the news.
They said: “The removal of fox hunters from the Rural Crime Team, was always at the core of our campaign. This issue goes to the heart of police impartiality, accountability and public trust and confidence in the “policing by consent” model, particularly during a time when the public gaze is very much focused on the corruption and the sometimes criminal behaviour which occurs within every police force around the country.
“Naturally this result is welcomed, this is most certainly a win for the power of people to hold powerful institutions and interests to account, when the official systems invariably fail to do so.
“We know that the Rural Crime Team are currently investigating several incidents of hunt crime, some of which hunt sabs have been assisting with, and we will continue to provide evidence, where we can, to bring these organised rural crime gangs to justice for the sake of our persecuted wildlife.”
