National Crime Agency

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This article is about the United Kingdom law enforcement agency. For the former Australian agency, see National Crime Authority.
National Crime Agency
Abbreviation NCA
Logo of the National Crime Agency.
Agency overview
Formed 7 October 2013
Preceding agencies
Employees 4,500 Officers
Annual budget £494 million
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Map of National Crime Agency's jurisdiction.
Population 63,181,775[1]
Legal jurisdiction United Kingdom; limited in Northern Ireland
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters London, England, UK
Elected officer responsible Theresa May, Home Secretary
Agency executive Keith Bristow, Director-General
Child agency Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
Website
www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is a national law enforcement agency in the United Kingdom which replaced the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It became fully operational on 7 October 2013[2] and is a non-ministerial government department.[3] The NCA includes the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre as an individual command, and parts of the National Policing Improvement Agency. Some of the responsibilities of the UK Border Agency relating to border policing also became part of the NCA.[4]

Like its predecessor SOCA, the NCA has been dubbed the "British FBI" by the media. The NCA Director-General, Chief Constable Keith Bristow, has the power to direct other police chiefs to concentrate their resources where necessary,[5] effectively making him the most senior police officer in the country.[6]

The NCA has over 4,500 officers, and an annual budget of £494 million.[7]

Establishment

The proposed agency was first publicly announced in a statement to the House of Commons by Home Secretary Theresa May on 26 July 2010.[8] On 8 June 2011 Theresa May declared that the NCA will comprise a number of distinct operational commands: Organised Crime, Border Policing, Economic Crime and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre - and that it will house the National Cyber Crime Unit. She added that capabilities, expertise, assets and intelligence will be shared across the new agency; that each Command will operate as part of one single organisation; and that the NCA will be a powerful body of operational crime fighters, led by a senior Chief Constable and accountable to the Home Secretary. In her statement to the House of Commons, Theresa May stated that the new agency would have the authority to "undertake tasking and coordination, ensuring appropriate action is taken to put a stop to the activities of organised crime groups".[9]

In June 2011, the coalition government announced that SOCA's operations (serious drug trafficking investigative and intelligence sections) would be merged into a larger National Crime Agency to launch in 2013.

On 23 September 2011 the Home Affairs Select Committee called for the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism commands unit role be handed over to the NCA when it becomes operational saying that the terrorist threat is a "national problem" and that there would be "advantages" in transferring responsibility.[10][11]

In October 2011, it was announced that Keith Bristow, the then Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, would head the organisation.[12]

The NCA came into being under provisions granted by the Crime and Courts Act 2013 which received Royal Assent on 25 April 2013.[13]

Operations

Internally, the NCA is split into four individual commands: Border Policing, Economic Crime, Organised Crime and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). The National Cyber Crime Unit also operates within the NCA.[14] The NCA has jurisdiction to carry out operations under these commands in Great Britain, but not Northern Ireland. Due to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the NCA would not be able to carry out its policing role, as it is overseen by the Home Secretary rather than a local organisation as required by the agreement. Therefore, the agency only operates as a customs and border enforcement agency in Northern Ireland.[15]

Jurisdiction

The NCA has full operational capacity only in England & Wales. Operations in Scotland will reflect the different legal system and devolution of policing powers, with the body co-ordinating operations with Police Scotland and the Scottish Government.[16] In Northern Ireland, the agency will carry out border and customs functions only, with its other roles left to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Consequently the NCA is subject to scrutiny by the relevant Scottish and Northern Irish bodies as well as the UK ones; this includes the British Parliament, Scottish Parliament and Northern Irish Assembly.

Powers of Arrest

NCA Officers can be designated the powers of a constable, customs officer, immigration officer, or any combination of these three sets of powers.

References

  1. ↑ "2011 UK censuses". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 December 2012. 
  2. ↑ "National Crime Agency". GOV.UK. 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013. 
  3. ↑ "How we are run". NCA. 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Police reform proposals outlined". BBC News. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2013. 
  5. ↑ Johnston, Philip (7 October 2013). "The National Crime Agency: Does Britain need an FBI?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2013. 
  6. ↑ Hughes, Mark; Gardham, Duncan (8 June 2011). "National Crime Agency head will be 'most powerful officer in UK'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2013. 
  7. ↑ "National Crime Agency to 'relentlessly pursue' organised crime". BBC News. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013. 
  8. ↑ "26 July 2010". Theresa May, Home Secretary. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) (House of Commons). col. 723–724 .
  9. ↑ "National Crime Agency details outlined by Theresa May". BBC News. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2013. 
  10. ↑ Home Affairs Committee (23 September 2011). New Landscape of Policing: Volume 1 (Report). London: The Stationery Office. p. 43. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmhaff/939/939.pdf. Retrieved 12 August 2013. "Although London is a prime target for terrorist attacks, the terrorist threat is a national problem and there would be advantages in placing responsibility for counter-terrorism in the National Crime Agency"
  11. ↑ "Met Police counter-terrorism role should end, MPs say". BBC News Online. BBC News. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2013. 
  12. ↑ "UK National Crime Agency head to be Keith Bristow". BBC News. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2012. 
  13. ↑ "Crime and Courts Bill receives Royal Assent". Home Office. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013. 
  14. ↑ "What we do". National Crime Agency. 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013. 
  15. ↑ "Q&A: National Crime Agency". BBC News. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Surveillance threat to crime lords as agency is launched". 7 October 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013. 

External links

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