On Friday, a team of specialists gathered at the police station in Hapeville, Georgia to talk about the illegal hunting of animals, the money it generates, and ways to address cases that are frequently ignored.
CrimeOnline’s cold case writer and crime scene investigator, Sheryl McCollum, hosted the Wildlife CSI Academy event and welcomed professionals from the Wildlife Forensic Academy, headquartered in South Africa. Among the experts, in part, included a renowned veterinarian, a criminologist, an educator, and the founder and CEO of the academy.
The goal, according to McCollum, is to implement training in the U.S., making it more accessible for people in the states to learn about wildlife crimes.
“Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the Wildlife Forensic Academy (WFA) in South Africa. I made it a goal to host a stateside training here in the U.S. It was an honor to host the South African delegation from the WFA at the Hapeville Police Department in conjunction with the Wildlife CSI Academy.”
”We had experts from every discipline in Criminal Justice from Federal Prosecutor to local college educators. Together this group of experts will fight animal poaching as an unprecedented team!”
Aninal poaching, according to the academy, refers to the illegal killing of animals for personal uae and/or for profit. Rhino horns, for example, are often sought after for medicinal value, although no scientific evidence exists to back up the claims. The horns are also used for ornaments and jewelry.
Many law enforcement agencies reportedly see more significances in allocating resources to human victims, Claire Gwinnett. a professor in Forensic and Environmental Science and Director for the Centre for Crime, Justice and Security at Staffordshire University, said part of the academy’s goal is to increase awareness into the value of prosecuting those who kill and poach animals.
”We’ve done a study with our home office that’s actually trying to quantify the value,” Gwinnett said. “We need to know when [the crime] happened, where it happened and what exactly happened… Our human crimes are exactly the same thing when we are talking about wildlife crimes. We just to think of it slightly differently.”
Similar to human crimes, animals crimes include processing the scene, DNA evidence, witnesses, cause and manner of death, arrests, and legal proceedings to hold the poachers accountable.
Each of these factors are analyzed at the academy, with the common goal in mind of preventing wildlife animal crimes and holding criminals accountable.
To assist in the efforts, experts in the U.S., including a judge, a criminologist, a prosecutor. and more, are voluntarily dedicating their time and resources in hopes of spreading awareness about wildlife crimes and the advantages of training.
“This collaboration allows for law enforcement and government officials across two continents to collaborate and fight poaching and illegal harvesting of all animals,” polygraph examiner and investigator Lisa Ribacoff, who attended Friday’s session, told CrimeOnline.
Check back for part two of the series to learn more about how a renowned veterinarian assists the academy and how animal medicine is a vital factor in the process.
