£8 million awarded as part of Government’s investment against serious and organised crime
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has been awarded more than £8 million as part of the Government’s investment in the UK’s fight against serious and organised crime.
As part of the Police Transformation Fund (PTF), the Home Secretary has approved up to £70m in 2018/19 to boost law enforcement’s capacity to deal with major threats.
The NCA-led projects that will receive funding include the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC), the National Assessment Centre (NAC) and the National Data Exploitation Centre (NDEC). The Joint Operations Team (JOT) – made up from NCA and GCHQ officers to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) - will also receive money.
The threat from serious and organised crime is changing and evolving at breakneck speed. It is increasing in volume and complexity, as criminals become more innovative and elusive and advancing technology gives criminals new ways to commit and conceal their crimes.
Steve Rodhouse, Director General (Operations) at the National Crime Agency said:
“Today criminals can share indecent images of children, sell drugs or hack into national infrastructure from anywhere in the world. They can communicate covertly with other criminals across the globe through encrypted services and move their illicit finances from one jurisdiction to another online, through the use of crypto-currencies.
“To fully protect the public, the NCA must stay ahead of the criminals, develop our existing skills and share information and expertise in a way that delivers the biggest impact.
“Tackling the breadth of serious and organised crime requires a whole-system response, collaborating with partners across law enforcement, government bodies, the public, private and third sectors in the UK and internationally.
“This additional funding will help us police the UK more efficiently and effectively, and allow us to respond to the changing nature of crime.”
The four national NCA projects receiving funding will provide the tools for partners across law enforcement to collectively strengthen our intelligence capabilities. By upgrading the way we gather and use intelligence will we be able to keep ahead of organised crime groups and their activities, preventing crime before it happens.
The National Data Exploitation Capability (NDEC) has been awarded £4m, the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) £1.5m and the National Assessment Centre (NAC) £500,000. £2.2m has also been awarded to tackle child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE).
