National Crime Agency launched, dubbed “British FBI”

A new crime fighting body called the National Crime Agency (NCA) has been launched, focused on “cutting serious and organised crime”.

The NCA brings together a number of previous policing agencies, including the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), under one body, but will have significantly reduced funding. Whilst FBI comparisons abound, the NCA will not have anti-terror responsibilities, with those tasks remaining under the control of Scotland Yard.

It will work with regional and local police forces in the UK as well as police forces abroad, launches with around 4,500 officers, and will report directly to the Home Secretary. It is led by Keith Bristow, who said of the body:

“The NCA is a UK-wide crime-fighting agency, which will have the capability to tackle serious and organised crime in areas that have previously had a fragmented response, such as the border, cyber and economic crime, and those where we need to increase our impact, like child protection and human trafficking.

The NCA will be at the centre of a reformed policing landscape that will co-ordinate the fight against some of the United Kingdom’s most sophisticated and harmful criminals.”

Announcing the launch of the new National Crime Agency, Home Secretary Theresa May said:

“I want to make Britain a hostile environment for serious and organised criminals, with the new National Crime Agency leading that fight.

For the first time we now have a single national agency harnessing intelligence to relentlessly disrupt organised criminals at home and abroad with its own warranted officers, and the power to lead officers from other law enforcement agencies in coordinating that activity.

The new National Crime Agency will mean that there will be no hiding places for human traffickers, cyber criminals and drugs barons.”

Labour have called the change a “rebranding exercise”, with the NCA the third serious crimes organisation set up since 1998, and complain it is not strong enough to tackle the growing issues of online crime and international fraud with its 20% funding cut.