05/12/2011 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

Tonight we have crime on our mind. We are on the beat tracking the

metal thieves and discovering copper cables can be costy. I would

rather have me freedom than be in jail. It is not worth it. We're on

the front line with the New Yorkshire officers who say their

lot is not a happy one. They're wanting for more less. But the only

thing you get with less is less. And we're on the hunt for the

Cumbrian deer poachers. By using 21st Century techniques there is a

solution, poachers, watch this space. Stories from the heart of

the north-east and Cumbria - this How do you get on top of a crime

wave that has been described as an ep dimmic? Metal thefts account for

up to one in seven crimes in the north-east. -- epidemic. We have

been access to British Transport Police as they fight back. Cable

theft is an opportunist crime. It is a massive attack on the

community. People are fed up with the impact that cable theft is

having on them, their families, their businesses. Every where.

Friday night and the British Transport Police's Operation

Leopard is visiting bed lington. The town's getting hammered by

cable thieves. This is a freight line. Trains don't run all the time

and it is a hotspot where it has been stolen. It has been buried

here and dug up. This team's job is to stop cable theft in the north-

east. We target the hotspots where most crime is and we have got

tactics we use, like dedicated patrols. We use the force

helicopter, dogs, bikes. British Transport Police has quadrupled its

resources here. At a time when everyone else is cutting back,

because it says it can't afford not to. A huge amount of my time is

taken up with this problem. It is the biggest performance issue that

we have. When cables are stolen, they're alerted here at Network

Rail's control room, where they fix the problem and reroute trains. The

crimes �43 million a year and the north-east is the worst area in the

country. There has been over �3.5 million worth of business lost this

year. That is over 100 incidents. So we have had delay and disruption

to thousands of passengers. have passengers travelling to

London or Edinburgh to do business from the north-east and it is not

good to have a major transport artery affected. On Tyneside the

problem has spread to the metro system. Since April we have had

more than 20 incidents where copper has been stolen. It has cost us ore

�300,000. The explosion of development in China means they're

short of metals, particularly copper. They're importing huge

amounts. So prices have rocketed. If you were to track the price of

copper against the number of incidents that we have there is a

close alignment to the two. When the commodities go up in value, it

is something for thieves to go for. We needed to do something. That

meant the transport police's task force, Operation Leopard. They deal

with people who steal, and then work with other forces to tackle

the people who buy it. The purpose of the operation today is to

disrupt, detect and deter metal thefts. It is to target the rogue

dealers who are removing scrap illegally and taking it to the

scrap yards. Police officers hang around scrap yard s who see who is

coming in to sell metal. One drove past and never came in. Global

metal prices have fuelled an entire industry in Sunderland. There are

500 Rog sterd scrap dealers. A few years ago the police said they were

50. -- registered. What we need the to see is your dealer's licence.

You say you have got one. Aye. Could you do us a check please. It

expired on, in August this year. We have going to have a word with him.

It is an offence to trade as a scrap dealer and not be registered.

The result of that is I'm going to arrest you. You will be taken to

the police station and interviewed. The man's later charged with

failure to register a scrap metal business. But the police they are

coming up against a big problem, the law dates back to 1964 and does

not force them to keep proper records of customers or

transactions. The legislation is not fit for purpose. It is time it

was changed. Where we stopped dealers being able to deal in cash

only. We made sure that we're happy with the identification of

individuals. So police forces are about to trial an ID scheme so they

will be able to trace those who sell scrap. Network Rail will say

it is an epidemic. For us it is our second priority from terrorism.

There's a disease going around town # So why does the north-east have

such a terrible reputation for it? There is a high level of

unemployment. There is a lot of mining villages, where we do have

these mining villages, there does seem to be a proportion of

community tend to be stealing cable. The British Transport Police are

building up a picture of the type of people who steal cable. So their

next job is to make sure they're not out doing it. Pause you have

been arrest ford cable-related offences -- arrested for cable-

related offences we come to let them know that we are still about.

We have a wide range of people, from the age of 14 up to 50. People

that are unemployed in the majority. Some are organised teams, gangs and

some are just individuals, who have got drug habits. You see your drug

worker often? You link with the other agencies? In the village here

a thief is awaiting sentence. took copper from the railways and

then burnt it off and brought it in. A few days later I have been locked

up for it. Me friends are saying how can we get money, say they said

we will do this. I thought I would give them a hand. Have you been

warned ha you will go do prison? Yes. So I might get off with it and

if I do, then touch wood, if I do and then that is it. I'm it... Me

out. You won't be stealing more cable? No. The police say these

visits work. But to catch thieves in the act they're using the latest

technology. Hidden cameras in hotspots which Network Rail

monitors. We observe incoming camera pictures which are activated

by thieves on the line. On 5th October we had an e-mail received

from an alarm in Shildon. These are the pictures that were scene from

that incident. We have actually got some ID of this foot wear. If they

were picked up on site, we could have arrested them probably on that

basis. Tonight though it is frustrating, as we're filming just

five miles away, thieves have brought the east coast main line to

a stand-still. But it is not radioed through. Since April this

team has made nearly 200 arrests. Big fish and people like Joe.

I woke up this morning, crying me eyes out. Because thinking of going

to jail. It's not nice. People will think because they don't arrested

tonight, they have got away with the theft and they have a shock

when we knock on their door and arrest them for that theft and put

them before the courts. I would rather have me freedom than be in

jail over a bit of copper. It is Saving money is on everyone's mind

now. That is true of the region's police forces. Here in North

Yorkshire 200 officers will go, on top of 300 civilian jobs. But crime

is falling. Good news? Well maybe. But police officers say they're

paying a heavy price to balance the books. Saturday in York, extra

officers have been brought in in -- for Bonfire Night. Let's take a

common-sense approach. To save money, shifts are weighted to the

busiest times, mostly Friday and Saturday night. And the number of

days off have been slashed and it is not going down well. By changing

the shifts we are working an extra 24 days a year for no extra pay.

Anybody we can can do with section 27. Dave leads the support squad.

He checks in with his colleagues before he leaves. You have got GP 3.

North Yorkshire is England's biggest county and now they have

one control room. All calls come here. It is the communications link

to officers on the beat. The other control room was closed, in all

they shed 300 civilian jobs. take support staff away, we're all

front line as far as we're concerned. That means we have to

take a police officer to deal with that paperwork or those inquiries.

Or to do those interviews. It makes that line even thinner. Everything

is in place and ready to go. But there is a hitch. There are no vans

to get them on to the streets. the cuts, our fleet has been

reduced. Now if one team requires it, the other finishes it and we

have to wait. It is an hour and a half before we can get on patrol.

It is frustrating. As the bonfires die down, it is hotting up in the

city centre and there is a report of a woman being attacked. What's

happened to you? The man is arrested and taken into custody.

is going to get a statement from you. The woman needs a medical

check and will be questioned about what happened. Excellent. Arrests

are not always this straight forward. Last month Dave and his

partner were attacked in another domestic dispute and Dave got a

black eye and bruised ribs. His colleague was head butted. He said

staff shortages are placing them at greater risk. They're reducing

number and the number of policing for our safety. We are finding more

often because the control room are so busy, they can only do so much.

So we're going into incidents and we don't know what we're dealing

with. It is putting ours at risk. You're under arrest for burglary.

Excellent. North Yorkshire is among the first police to impose the 20%

Government cut, shaving �28 million from the budget. Lindsay is on a 20

hour shift. Prisoners are brought here from other stations where the

cells are closed out of hours. She accepts the need for change. Some

unpopular decisions have been made, but we need to understand it is not

just our organisation, it is affecting everyone and police

officers are in a lucky position now, in that we have secure jobs.

It might look like heartbeat, but rural offices believe the cuts

leave them isolated. On his own, he says fewer staff means he is on his

own. I will be checking three or four people in a car in a field,

and in the early hours. I rely on feedback and the response of my

control room to integrate the computer and our intelligence

systems, because of their depletion, I'm not confident that I can rely

on that from them. It leaves us vulnerable. It is a risk for

officers in the middle of nowhere and there is, I know there is

concerns about that. Sharon used to work in the control room that has

closed and has been redeployed to Ripon. By next year I will have

lost between 10 and 10 and a half thousand pounds, because I'm no

longer working shifts. I have always been careful about my money,

it is harder, especially with having children, you like them to

think you can give them things and it does have a massive impact.

know Grandpa there is something... Off home Dave still has the scars

of the recent assault and feels his work is also impacting on his

family. I have come back and he was asleep on the chair. We have a

house full of children and you know you get irritable and he ends up

sometimes shouting at the children. Over 15 days I have had one rest

day. I have taken a day of leave to camp up with my sleep. -- catch up

with me sleep. With any change there will be things that some

staff don't like. There are areas that we might want to see changed

and we have committed to look at the six month journey and if we

need to make changes, we will co- that. I was responsible for

redifring -- delivering our redundancy package. And only 2323

left us through compulsory redundancy. -- 23 people left us

through compulsory redundancy. you cut the support side, police

officer say they don't feel they're getting the same response, if they

need a vebg checked? -- vehicle checked. It is taking longer, the

informs I have from our control room does not support that. But

we're looking at expanding our use of technology more through the

introduction of new radio systems and new technology. That means that

police officers are able to do more of those things for themselves when

they need them. And that will continue to be developed. We saw

office es caught in a building for an hour, because the right vehicles

were not there. I'm aware of circumstances and we are looking at

increasing certain types of vehicles, vehicle types at key

location and over time that will reduce the impacts that you saw.

Are these just teething problems? We are learning from thing like

that. We try to minimise potential for that happening. So our staff

can be as effective as possible. Until century I enjoyed my job. Now

can I -- until ecentury I enjoyed my job. Now can I tell you how many

days I have until I retire. only thing you get with less is

less. It is rare for police officers to speak so openly. Their

message is clear, they feel they're being forced to suffer the pain of

the cutbacks. But according to Ian the service they provide has not

been affected. As we sit here, we are as able to respond to the needs

of our communities as we were six or seven months ago. I'm clear with

that. And the evidence for that is the satisfaction rates that our

public say they have got for our service, the reducing crime levels

across the county and the city of York. And I think for me that

speaks for itself in terms of where we are. It is one of the oldest

crimes known to man - poaching. There are I now more incidents of

deer poaching in Cumbria than the whole of Scotland. But the thieves

are in for a shock. Can you go to corn Corney. Yes. There is lampers

seen on kompee Fell on the far side. -- Corney Fell on the far side. We

are going to nip up the road and investigate. It is a late November

night in Cumbria and PC Burgess is looking for poachers. They're on

the fell. Received. We're we're at the school. There is people lamping

up there and they will be seeing us clearly down here. And the most

natural thing is to turn the light off. It becomes more of a game.

the dark, the poachers may have slipped the net. If you suspected

offences are committed on this, you do a range of thins. Stewart is

part of a team on the hunt for poachers. Whose land are they on.

If they say it is farmer so and so, we're going to call the bluff and

hop in the car we will see the farm. See what they stay. It is the start

of long night for their operation to tackle the issue of deer

poaching. The plan is to look out for things that might be unusual,

thing that are different and give the game away. What kind of guys

are we dealing with? The people doing the poaching, a lot have a

long criminal record. And they're out in the rural area.

confidential report from the wildlife crime unit says Cumbria

has overtaken Scotland for poaching raids. The report says poaching in

general is the biggest threat to Cumbria's wildlife. In the last few

months, the heads of six deer have been found. This is one way it is

done, known as lamping. The light stuns the animal and thn it is shot

or dogged are set on it. A far cry from legitimate farming. These are

the tags we use to identify the carcass from this estate. It tells

you the age and time of the shooting. Anyone who doesn't use

these tags, they must be suspect. Last year a game dealer received a

caution from police after failing to have the right paper work. Myles

Sand has fought a long battle with poachers. There is nothing romantic

about stealing. That is all it is. We shouldn't call them poachers, it

has connotations one for the pot. But it is taking something that

doesn't belong to them. Venison is new fashionable with chefs and the

demands and the price for the meat is high. This girl's weighing about

45 poundss, so about 60 pounds in cash. If you sell to back doors of

restaurants, there noise guarantee that the carcass has been handled -

- there is no guarantee that the carcass has been handled properly.

You could risk poisoning people. notice human health that is put at

risk. If a parent is taken, you get a deer that is orphaned and won't

have suckled. So you could end up with a deer that is diseased.

like looking for a needle in a haystack. People will stay out and

work different times. Depends how keen they are. Like everything else.

They have got their own quarry and it is like or I -- you or I if we

want to do something. It is 2am and the operation is drawing to a close.

We haven't managed to link up with any poachers tonight. But what is

evident is in an area the size of west Cumbria, the poachers can turn

off their light and disappear like smoke. As day breaks, it is easier

to spot the clues. Catching the poachers isn'tise yes and because

the carcasses are not often found until daylight, gathering evidence

can be more difficult. But hopefully that is about to change.

Hi Jim. This is not a crime scene is it? No. It is something you set

up. Yes. That is what you would find if somebody had been driving

along and poached a deer. Poachers will leave the unwanted parts of

the carcass at the scene. Jim is a former police forensic scientist

and now manages deer in Scotland. It is the same technique that we

use use ta murder investigation. But we know whoever has moved this

deer have had to touch it lard to drag the body and put a lot of

force into snapping the legs off before they throw it in the back of

the car. So that sort of force will leave their DNA in these items.

We're just recovering that for analysis. Is there an easy way

around, such as just wearing gloves. It will lessen it but we will still

get their DNA. Here at Strathclyde University the technique was homed.

We need to first isolate and purify the DNA. How probably would bit

that the DNA would belong to the Popeer? Given the circumstances --

poacher -- it is very likely that any human DNA will belong to the

poacher. A deer in the wild is difficult to get close to. So it is

not going to contain any human DNA by chance. The results will come

out here. Can we see them coming through The DNA profile will then

allow the police to check their database for a match. What are the

chances of that one belonging to 30 or 40 people? Very unlikely. To

find this profile at random we're looking at probabilities in one in

greater Nan a billion. -- than a billion. This has been trield

already? Yes we have had a good success rate. When will this be

used in the course of law? It is ready for use now and hopefully we

will see prosecutions within a year. So poachers beware? Definitely.

my night out with the police, there was little trace of the poachers.

But one thing is certain - the cover of darkness cannot hide their

D th. A being left at the scene. -- DNA being left at the scene. If we

can use science for the deer it must be a benous.? It is aids the

police in getting the right conviction, it must be good. This

crime has gone on for hundreds of years. But by using new techniques,

hopefully there is a solution on the way for this age old problem.

That is it for this week. You can comment, share your views or keep