Serious Organised Crime Agency Q&A
Reproduced from an article in the Scotsman.Com
Crime Agency: Q&A
The creation of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) will be the biggest shake-up of the way British policing is organised since force boundaries in England and Wales were re-drawn 40 years ago.
Here are some of the main questions and answers on what Soca will do and how it will operate.
Q. Why is Soca being set up?
The Home Office estimates that organised crime costs the UK at least £20 billion a year.
Ministers believe that to tackle the highly sophisticated methods employed by criminals such as drug smugglers, people traffickers, internet paedophiles and fraudsters, a bold new solution is needed.
A slice of the extra cash secured from the Treasury in the latest comprehensive spending review – boosting Home Office expenditure from £17.3 billion in 2004-2005 to £20.1 billion in 2007-2008 – will be spent on creating the elite new law enforcement agency.
Q. How will Soca work alongside existing law enforcement agencies in the UK?
A. Soca will merge the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and investigation teams at HM Customs and Excise and the Immigration Service.
But the key to its success will be its interaction with existing police forces.
Director general Bill Hughes has stressed that the relationship will be about cooperation, and Soca will be very different to the American Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Soca will not be “parachuting in and causing problems”, he said.
While Soca is often termed the British FBI, another contrast is that FBI Special Agents have a unique status in Federal law which Soca investigators will not.
Soca will also have a substantial presence overseas.
Q. Who will work for Soca and what powers will they have?
A. There will be some 5,000 investigators. Members of the bodies merged by Soca will be seconded to the agency.
Even if they have never been police officers, they will be able to be given full police powers, including powers of arrest.
Designated staff will have “all the powers and privileges of a constable”.
But Mr Hughes has stressed that his ability to hand out such powers will be strictly controlled.
No one will get them until they have been properly trained and accredited to use them, he said.
Q. What will Soca’s investigators be called?
A. The question is still to be decided but Mr Hughes has said his personal preference is for “officers”.
The possibility of them being called “agents” has been ruled out.
Q. When will it start working?
A. Soca is due to begin operating in April 2006 if the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill is passed.
Here are some of the main questions and answers on what Soca will do and how it will operate.
Q. Why is Soca being set up?
The Home Office estimates that organised crime costs the UK at least £20 billion a year.
Ministers believe that to tackle the highly sophisticated methods employed by criminals such as drug smugglers, people traffickers, internet paedophiles and fraudsters, a bold new solution is needed.
A slice of the extra cash secured from the Treasury in the latest comprehensive spending review – boosting Home Office expenditure from £17.3 billion in 2004-2005 to £20.1 billion in 2007-2008 – will be spent on creating the elite new law enforcement agency.
Q. How will Soca work alongside existing law enforcement agencies in the UK?
A. Soca will merge the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service and investigation teams at HM Customs and Excise and the Immigration Service.
But the key to its success will be its interaction with existing police forces.
Director general Bill Hughes has stressed that the relationship will be about cooperation, and Soca will be very different to the American Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Soca will not be “parachuting in and causing problems”, he said.
While Soca is often termed the British FBI, another contrast is that FBI Special Agents have a unique status in Federal law which Soca investigators will not.
Soca will also have a substantial presence overseas.
Q. Who will work for Soca and what powers will they have?
A. There will be some 5,000 investigators. Members of the bodies merged by Soca will be seconded to the agency.
Even if they have never been police officers, they will be able to be given full police powers, including powers of arrest.
Designated staff will have “all the powers and privileges of a constable”.
But Mr Hughes has stressed that his ability to hand out such powers will be strictly controlled.
No one will get them until they have been properly trained and accredited to use them, he said.
Q. What will Soca’s investigators be called?
A. The question is still to be decided but Mr Hughes has said his personal preference is for “officers”.
The possibility of them being called “agents” has been ruled out.
Q. When will it start working?
A. Soca is due to begin operating in April 2006 if the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill is passed.
Created: Thu, November 25th, 2004 | Last Modified: Wed, August 9th, 2006
