Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation

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