The National Crime Agency (NCA) will, according to the Coalition Government, transform our response to organised crime.
It replaces the Serious Organised Crime Agncy (SOCA). According to the Home Office the NCA will tackle organised crime, defend our borders, fight fraud and cyber crime, and protect children and young people. A plan released by the Home Office in June sets out ‘the need and vision’ for the NCA โ due to be established in 2013 and fully operational by the end of that year. To download the 28-page document, visit –
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/nca/
The NCA will have operational commands: Organised Crime, Border Policing, Economic Crime and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. It will also house the National Cyber Crime Unit. Home Secretary Theresa May described the NCA as โa landmark moment in British law enforcementโ. She said: โWe must do more to tackle the scourge of drugs, secure our borders, reduce fraud and cyber crime, and stop the exploitation of children. That is what the NCA will do.โ
The document admits that despite the foundation of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the national response to serious and organised crime remains patchy. Quoting earlier reports, the document says that there are assessed to be around 38,000 organised criminals impacting on the UK, involving around 6,000 criminal groups. โOrganised criminals are highly adaptive, exploiting every available opportunity, system and technology to invent new or varied forms
of crime.โ
The document says: โSuccessful organised crime groups often consist of a core of key individuals, around which there is a cluster of subordinates and an extended network of disposable associates. Organised criminals often make use of โspecialistsโ who provide services such as transportation, money laundering, debt enforcement, security guidance, or the provision of false documentation. Prison hinders the ability of organised criminals to operate, but does not prevent it altogether. Some organised criminals continue to manage and direct organised crime groups, commission violent offences and intimidate witnesses from prison. For some, a custodial sentence is a risk worth taking. It may also provide opportunities to network with other criminals.โ
As for prevention, the document says that the NCA โwill help the public and businesses protect themselves from the destructive nature of organised criminalityโ. โThe Economic Crime Command [of the agency], working closely with the City of London Police, will lead on public awareness and information on fraud in particular, using the expertise of the cyber crime unit and sharing approaches across the public and private sectors.โ As for economic crime, the document speaks of โa clear link between economic crime and organised crime groups, with organised criminality accounting for almost a quarter of the £38.4 billion that fraud alone costs the UKโ. While the document says the economic crime command of the NCA will โensure a coherent approach to the use of resources focussed on economic crime across the full range of agencies deploying themโ, the document does not speak of the National Fraud Authority though the document does say that the NCA โwill work closely with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau in the City of London Policeโ.
Before 2013 the NCA will have a head (โa senior chief constableโ) and โcross-agency assessment of the threat of organised crime to border securityโ.
