The Epping Forest Keepers are an ancient and historic body of people who are employed by the City of London, who in return are responsible, on behalf of the Conservators, for the management and care of Epping Forest, which covers approximately ten square miles of forest, bridleway, woodland and recreational space stretching from Forest Gate in Greater London, north to North Weald in Essex. The forest is managed by the City of London Corporation and is one of many open spaces that comes under their control that is outside the City of London that are maintained by the Corporation of London at no expense to the taxpayer.
Role
, there are nine Forest Keepers, three Senior Forest Keepers and one Head Keeper, each of whom is sworn in as a constable.
In addition, the Superintendent of Epping Forest was attested as a constable in 2014. The reason for the attestation related to both his involvement in incidents in the forest when going about his duties and to strengthen his role as a 'decision maker' in the instigation of proceedings for offences committed under the Epping Forest Act.
The powers of these roles relate exclusively to the enforcement of the Epping Forest Act 1878 and the byelaws made there under. Not all byelaws that are in operation within Epping Forest are made under that Act and the constables have no specific police power in order to enforce them. The constables also have no powers over and above those of a normal person to enforce criminal law, other than 'public justice offences' in relation to them exercising their police powers to enforce the Epping Forest Act (such as obstructing a constable, assaulting a constable or wasting police time in relation to making any false allegations of offences committed under the Epping Forest Act). Where this article may also refer to an "Epping Forest Constable" in places, it should be inferred that it refers to those Forest Keepers that have been attested as a constable.
The current number of Forest Keepers is much lower than is historically listed, as there have been as many as twenty one forest keepers in the past. However, the level of acquired knowledge of Forest Keepers means that they are acutely attuned to everyday activities in the forest. Generally the forest keepers act as forest rangers and very rarely use their powers as a constable.
Under the terms of the Epping Forest Act 1878, the purpose of the Forest is to provide an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the public and this is to be achieved by conserving the Forest in all its vegetative forms and doing it in such a way that the Forest feels to the visitor to be a natural place. The role of the Epping Forest Keeper is to ensure that this is achieved.
Epping Forest is a site of Site of Special Scientific Interest, which is a conservation designation that denotes it as a protected area. The protection of the forest's fauna, flora, geological or physiographical / geomorphological features is a common theme for the activity of a Forest Keeper.
On an operational basis, common duties may include the following areas of focus:
Policing vehicular, cycling and equine activity within the forest. The Forest has a number of bridleways, whereby horse users are required to purchase and display a licence. Whilst most horse riders who fail to display a licence are warned, there are examples of multiple violators being prosecuted. Horse riders have expressed concerns regarding some types of behaviour that impedes their sense of safety and enjoyment, such as the illegal use of motorbikes within the forest, dangerous dogs, the use of fireworks and "drinking parties". Whilst most of the forest is open to horse riders and cyclists, there are areas that are clearly sign posted as being off-limits and damage is continuing to be caused to them by unlawful cycling and riding by a minority of individuals. Illegal mushroom picking. Press reports suggest that this is an increasing concern within the Forest, which has possibly been influenced by an increased national interest in high quality culinary pursuits. Mushroom pickers often have to pick mushrooms or cause damage to those in situ in order to establish whether they are edible or not, which causes significant damage to the Forest. The later part of 2013 yielded a bumper crop and Forest Keepers could be confronted by large crowds at certain sites, who were causing large scale damage to the forest. Fly tipping. Fly tipping has increased over recent years within the Forest and there is some suggestion that this could be linked to the decreased provision of municipal refuse sites within local areas. During the year 2013/2014 there were 666 recorded incidents of fly-tipping, which cost £212,213.58;Agenda Item 11 'ANNUAL REPORT OF FLY TIPPING AND WASTE DISPOSAL 1 APRIL 2013 TO 31 MARCH 2014', to put that into context, Epping Forest was 'overspent' on its £4.255m budget by £398,000.Agenda Item 5. 'REVENUE OUTTURN 2013/14 - EPPING FOREST', Protection of deer. Section 4 of the Epping Forest Act 1878 made all deer within the forest the property of the Conservators and placed a duty on them to preserve them. Due to a declining population of deer as a result on an increased number of motor cars that emerged in the 1950s and possibly due to increased hunting activity during the war and post-war period, a deer sanctuary was established in 1959 in Theydon Bois. The sanctuary houses a population of around 100 - 140 deer within 120 acres of land. Wild deer still roam the forest and it is the responsibility of two Epping Forest Keepers to attend road traffic accidents to deal the animal accordingly, whereby at least 40 animals have been killed in road traffic accidents annually over the last few years. The Keepers attended 63 crashes in 2009, which represented a three-fold increase since 2006. It could be suggested that an increased level of car accidents involving deer reflects an increased population of wild deer within the forest. The Deer Management Strategy included the target to reduce the deer population from an estimated 513 in 1996 to 200 in 2002. In 2012 there were an estimated 328, although this could be an underestimate. In deer-rich areas of the Forest, mostly in the north, the role of the Forest Keeper includes culling in the Deer Sanctuary as well as overseeing and participating in the work of licensed deer stalkers, who cull wild deer on the buffer lands as well as within some areas of the forest, which is an important role considering the risk implications for forest users. Protecting the forest from encroachment. This role may have featured more prominently during the early years of when Forest Keepers took office, whereby people extended their boundaries onto forest land. Whilst this may be more of a rarity in the 21st century, policing the boundaries of the forest is still a feature of the role. Forest Keepers have the power to remove such encroachments under the Epping Forest Act. Forest Keepers also have the power to remove any unauthorised structure, or any vehicle that people sleep in, such as a caravan. As such, travellers very rarely take up in residence in Epping Forest as they are removed swiftly without the need of going through the Courts. There is an increasing trend of homeless people living in the Forest near Wanstead Flats, which is located within the London Borough of Redbridge. It was reported that Forest Keepers evicted 46 rough sleepers during the summer of 2013
Following the Mounted Section being disbanded in 2009, a new operational model was introduced with a focus on Forest Keepers undertaking high visibility foot and mountain bike patrols. The Keepers are split into sections covering either the north, south or central areas of the forest, which cover the 38 components that the forest has been divided into. The new model placed a greater emphasis on Forest Keepers undertaking a highly visible "ambassadorial" role, rather than one that is just reactive and focuses on monitoring and enforcement. This seems to have had mixed results, with varying workloads and differing work environments not being reflected in the resources deployed by the Conservators.
Despite being attested constables, the Forest Keepers do not carry batons or handcuffs. The Epping Forest and Commons Committee were informed that a Forest Keeper was threatened with a knife by a rough sleeper on 15/01/2014 and two Forest Keepers were assaulted during another arrest. Two other Keepers were threatened at or near their place of residence in 2012. Regardless, the Committee concluded that the wearing of personal protective equipment would make them look confrontational and is increasingly counter to the direction the service is going.
Forest Keepers are increasingly more often found leading volunteer tasks and chairing local community initiatives rather than telling people off. In a return to a more traditional role, some Keepers now also actively participate in practical works, mirroring the older model of Keeper/Woodsman, which was discarded in the last 30 to 40 years to focus on a more enforcement focus. This duality of purpose has led to tensions both within the service and with management.
Recorded statistics on activity The Keepers pursue an approach of advising and educating forest users in relation to by law infringements. Whilst there isn't comprehensive information available on their enforcement activity, some information is available below that has been abstracted from various reports that gives some indication of mix of outcomes from their interventions with the public:
Period Advisory notices issued Number of prosecutions Offence categories 1 March 2012 – 31 August 2012 3045 2 Horse riding 21 September 2012 – 28 February 2013 3012 2 Climbing / damaging a tree, Fly Tipping
It could be calculated that there are around an average of 17 'advisory conversations' recorded each day within Epping Forest. Between 2007 and February 2013 there were an average of 8.6 prosecutions per year. However, recent press reports suggest an increased number of people are being prosecuted for mushroom picking and 15 people were due to attend court in January 2014. As a result of the prosecutions, 12 people were fined a total of £2,575.Agenda Item 5 '5. SUPERINTENDENT'S UPDATE',
Responsibilities for policing
Epping Forest is not a separate police area. The statutory responsibility for policing the forest rests either with the Metropolitan Police for parts of the forest within the Metropolitan Police District or Essex Police for the remainder of the forest located in the Essex Police area.
Section 45(1) of the Epping Forest Act clarifies that Epping Forest is a "place of public resort" (presumably to mean a "public place") and that the powers and duties of the Metropolitan Police and Essex Police extend therein (presumably to clarify that they have a duty to police it). This contrasts with the status of a council owned park which, whilst considered a public place when open, is in fact private property and the police would only have a responsibility to respond to incidents, rather than to patrol.
Section 45(3) of the Epping Forest Act places a duty on the Conservators of Epping Forest to pay, out of the Epping Forest Fund, the Metropolitan Police and Essex Police for "the services of constables" within the forest. There is nothing to suggest that either force currently receives payment for policing services within the forest.
Power to appoint constables/designate officers with police powers