Serious and organised criminals will be relentlessly pursued using strategies based on the UK’s counter terrorism framework, according to the Home Office.
Plans to tackle the threat of serious and organised crime have been announced by the Home Secretary Theresa May as she unveiled the governmentโs new Serious and Organised Crime Strategy. The NCA (National Crime Agency) is to provide a national lead against organised crime, including cyber crime. In a written statement, Mrs MAy said that serious and organised crime requires a response across the whole of government (national and local), the police and our law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies, and close collaboration with the private sector and with many other countries.
Theresa May said: โOrganised crime is a threat to our national security so it needs a national response to turn the full force of the state against those behind the most serious crimes. For too long, too many organised criminals have been able to remain one step ahead. This new strategy will deliver the relentless disruption of organised criminals at every opportunity.
โThe new National Crime Agency will lead the fight by strengthening the UKโs borders, tackling organised crime at home and building stronger relationships with forces at home and overseas.โ
And Director General of the NCA, Keith Bristow, said: โIn support of the governmentโs new strategy the National Crime Agency will provide leadership and national coordination to continuously disrupt organised criminals and their groups, both in the UK and abroad through effective collaboration with police forces and other law enforcement agencies. We will focus better use of intelligence to detect individuals committing and enabling serious and organised crime, disrupt their activities and bring them to justice.โ
The Home Office quoted police estimates that there are over 5,500 organised crime groups operating in the UK involving around 37,000 individuals and costing the UK more than ยฃ24 billion each year. New measures include besides the National Crime Agency:
Extra funding for more by regional police organised crime units
More use of intervention programmes such as for gangs and troubled families to prevent people being drawn into organised crime
More aggressive use of Serious Crime Prevention Orders and Travel Restriction Orders as deterrent against repeated organised crime offenders
Lifetime offender management to manage interventions against persistent offenders before and after conviction with the aim of reducing re-offending
New arrangements for reporting and investigating corruption
New arrangements for public/private sector collaboration on financial crime and cyber crime
And a new cyber emergency response team to deal with the most serious cyber attacks, including cyber crime.
