Policing UK 2013 - Police Federation

POLICING CHALLENGES
“Organised crime is a local, national
and international problem. It also has
to be recognised as a political problem
and needs to be seriously prioritised.”
They [the criminal justice system] are
learning but I still think they might be
slightly behind. The Italians have had a
serious organised crime problem in the
post-war period and have found several
important ‘antidotes’, which are working
efficiently ‘Mafia association’ and asset
seizure legislation.
We could learn from them. In
particular, in relation to adopting
a ‘Mafia association-type’ crime
(‘membership crime’) in our English
context; what Berg and Shear (2011) call
‘best thinking’ rather than ‘best practice’.
In this country, anti-terrorism legislation
is being used to prosecute organised
criminals for ‘association’.
Would you view the Serious and
Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
as a success?
SOCA did not have a clear view of
what its role was. It had confused
responsibilities, lacked coherent
structures and was pressured to get
immediate results. There were high
expectations.
It was not clear what kind of ‘animal’
it was and it is also not clear what kind
of animal it will become in the new
National Crime Agency. The idea of
having a coherent national agency is not
wrong. But I think they probably wanted
to do too much, too fast. And what you
found was that there were lots of SOCA
staff in places like Afghanistan dealing
with the poppy fields.
I repeat, what you really needed was
better communication between SOCA
and local constabularies in this country.
How can the National Crime
Agency improve the situation?
SOCA is going to have a role in this new
institution, which is also going to bring
together border police, the economic
crime unit and the child exploitation
unit. I don’t know whether combining
all these activities is going to place
organised crime on the margins. It might
get lost.
We will go from one agency dealing
purely with organised crime to a mega
agency which will ‘tackle organised
crime, strengthen our borders, fight
cyber crime…’ It is going to do
everything and I don’t think you can
expect one agency to do all these
different things. And to do them well in
a period of austerity. That is very, very
worrying. It might prove to be another
missed opportunity.
How will police and crime
commissioners – with a potential
local focus – affect the policing of
organised crime in this country?
Organised crime is a local, national and
international problem. It also has to be
recognised as a political problem and
needs to be seriously prioritised. Perhaps,
for this reason, new PCCs need to
belong to political parties.
It will be on their shoulders to
understand organised crime in all its
different dimensions and become aware
of its ‘dangerousness’. It doesn’t produce
‘clear’ visible victims but it does produce
a general victim – society.
Dr Felia Allum was interviewed by
Royston Martis.
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