Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation
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POLICING CHALLENGES<br />
“The main issue is prioritisation.<br />
Resources are going to be<br />
fundamental and something<br />
is going to have to give.”<br />
In the <strong>UK</strong>, we have organised crime<br />
and crime syndicates (such as gangs), but<br />
no real Mafia-type phenomenon that<br />
controls a set territory.<br />
How effective is law enforcement<br />
in this country at tackling<br />
organised crime?<br />
It appears that petty crime and organised<br />
crime groups tend to flourish in austere<br />
times. They are ‘crunch’ resistant and<br />
are able to find the next opportunity<br />
to make money. At the same time, with<br />
austerity and cuts, the police are having<br />
their hands increasingly tied.<br />
Over the past 18 months, the Home<br />
Office has become much more proactive<br />
in understanding the importance of<br />
the different aspects of organised<br />
crime and how to tackle them. It is no<br />
longer just about drug trafficking. It is<br />
about cybercrime, human trafficking<br />
contraband cigarettes, identity fraud,<br />
counterfeit goods (clothes, DVDs,<br />
iPhones, even medicines).<br />
They are becoming more and more of<br />
a priority. Eighteen months ago, this was<br />
not the case.<br />
They are now engaging with this<br />
problem but, I would argue, very, very<br />
slowly. But, we also have to remember<br />
that they have a political agenda: for<br />
example, the Home Office also defines<br />
‘organised child sexual exploitation’ as<br />
organised crime, which I believe changes<br />
and widens our notion of organised<br />
crime, making it even more difficult<br />
to tackle.<br />
<strong>Policing</strong> in England and Wales is<br />
already complicated. There are 43<br />
different constabularies rather than one<br />
national police force. So communication<br />
for everyday issues is going to be<br />
complicated. When you add in the<br />
problems of mobile organised crime –<br />
someone who is active in Hampshire,<br />
comes up to Berkshire and then goes<br />
to Surrey, communication problems<br />
in following that person mean it is<br />
going to be complicated; not only the<br />
communications will be complicated,<br />
but also, the difficulty of gathering<br />
and sharing intelligence across different<br />
areas.<br />
With austerity and cuts of 20 per cent<br />
in the police budget, the main issue is<br />
prioritisation. Resources are going to be<br />
fundamental and something is going to<br />
have to give. I fear that organised crime<br />
policing will bear the brunt.<br />
There is no national framework for<br />
tackling organised crime, or for tasking<br />
law enforcement (or other) resources<br />
to impede them. In addition, the<br />
government’s recent announcement<br />
of opting out of EU law and order<br />
measures such as the European arrest<br />
warrant and shared databases of<br />
criminals and DNA, will further weaken<br />
international co-operation as well as<br />
give a signal that the <strong>UK</strong> is not fully<br />
committed to the fight against organised<br />
crime.<br />
Bearing in mind austerity and cuts,<br />
how can law enforcement improve<br />
its approach to fighting organised<br />
crime?<br />
Organised crime has to be seen as a local<br />
problem. Each constabulary has to have<br />
a sense of what kind of organised crime<br />
happens on its patch. I think you have to<br />
improve communication between forces<br />
and try to simplify structures.<br />
From my research, it seems<br />
that first you have to get the local<br />
perspective right, but also improve<br />
existing international co-operation.<br />
Communication with foreign law<br />
enforcement agencies abroad is not as<br />
good as it could be.<br />
Italy has come to grips with asset<br />
seiures and confiscation legislation.<br />
Italian judges have understood that to<br />
get big criminals you have got to hit<br />
them where it hurts: their bank accounts.<br />
In this country, there is still a lot of work<br />
we can do in terms of the seizure of<br />
flats, of bank accounts, etc.<br />
POLICING <strong>UK</strong> | 85