Forensic Awareness Day

People who commit environmental crimes in North Wales will find it harder to escape as Environment Agency Wales officers have been taught how to preserve forensic evidence at the site of a crime.

Ten Environmental Crime Officers from Environment Agency Wales recently spent the day at North Wales Polices Firearms Range in Rhewl training with Scientific Support Officers.

Organised by North Wales Polices Environmental Crime Officer, PC Eryl Lloyd, the aim of the day was to help raise awareness on the sort of things agency officers should look out for when dealing with incidents such as industrial fly-tipping.

Environment Agency Wales respond to incidents such as large-scale fly tipping, said PC Lloyd, who has been seconded to Environment Agency Wales over the last three years. I approached our Scientific Support Unit to see if they could assist with raising awareness on how to look for evidence, handle exhibits, and give advice on cross contamination issues.

He added: The day was a huge success and the feedback from everybody was excellent. As it was so successful we may look at holding a similar day for even more officers in the future.

Matt Roberts, Senior Environmental Crime Officer for Environment Agency Wales said: We are now able to use a variety of techniques to assist our investigations. The training and guidance obtained from the Awareness Day will enhance our skills in fighting Environmental Crime.

Environment Agency Wales staff who attended on the day also included those that are involved with the Pride in our Communities Project which is a Welsh Assembly Government initiative aimed at tackling fly-tipping in Wales.

Louise Peel, Project Officer with Environment Agency Wales said: Pride in Our Communities is a partnership project dedicated to tackling fly-tipping of waste in Wales. Fly tipping is illegal and causes Welsh tax payers over £3 million per year.

The Forensic Awareness Training delivered by North Wales Police, has been valuable in highlighting the importance of preserving crime scenes in order to gather vital evidence to catch these criminals and bring them to justice.

Assisting on the day were Trishia Foley and Robert Hewitt from North Wales Polices Scientific Support Unit.

Trishia Foley, Scientific Support Performance Manager for North Wales said: This day is believed to be the first of its kind whereby staff from the Environment Agency have been given an awareness session on the best way of preserving vital evidence.

By being given this opportunity the Environment Agency now has another tool to utilise to help them detect and catch the perpetrators who blot the landscape with illegal fly-tipping.

Anyone with information regarding fly-tipping can contact the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60 or visit their website www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Forensic;
• Scientific
• Support;
• North
• Wales
• Police;