The National Crime Agency (NCA) now undertakes a full range of operational activity in Northern Ireland. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been agreed between the Chief Constable and the Director General of the NCA. The NCA do not operate in Northern Ireland without the knowledge and permission of the Chief Constable. There are approximately 99 NCA officers in NI.
The main benefit to having NCA working alongside PSNI is the access to their international network and its specialist capabilities and functions. This is particularly important as organised crime groups (OCGs) often have a reach and impact beyond Northern Ireland. The National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime 2019 provides a single picture of the serious and organised crime (SOC) threat to the UK and how this has evolved over the past calendar year. PSNI have contributed to the overall assessment.
The specialist capabilities provided by NCA include:
- Civil Recovery – Recovery of assets on civil standard of proof (balance of probabilities) (Minimum of £10,000) which were obtained through unlawful conduct.
- Civil Taxation Non-conviction based (Part 6 of Proceeds of Crime Act 2002) - Lower test than Civil Recovery. Assessments based over 20 year period and once issued, burden of proof falls to taxpayer.
The main beneficiaries within PSNI are within the Crime Operations Department. These include:-
- Organised Crime Unit
- Economic Crime Unit
- Paramilitary Crime Taskforce
- Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Unit (MSHTU)
- Cyber Crime Unit
- Public Protection Branch
The strong and effective working relationships and practices between the two agencies have been further enhanced by the co-location of NCA personnel in both PSNI investigation and intelligence teams under the auspices of the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. NCA representatives regularly attend PSNI Tasking and Co-ordination meetings at a range of levels and sit alongside PSNI on a number of the Department of Justice’s Organised Crime Task Force sub-groups.
The PSNI Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Unit (MSHTU) has over recent years built a good relationship with the NCA. The main areas of co-operation are
- The Human Trafficking National Referral Mechanism. All our referrals come through them and they control the decision making process (with the Home Office). We liaise with the Decision Makers on a regular basis informing them of the results of any contact / investigation results that they need to make their decisions.
- The NCA Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPT) – This is a team of specialist interviewers that have assisted PSNI on a number of days of action. As part of Operation Favet, the NCA VPT, along with detectives from PSNI MSHTU established a ‘Reception Centre’ in a local east Belfast church hall and potential victims of trafficking recovered in suspected brothels were brought here to be triaged. The NCA Officers, along with members of the Red Cross and PSNI detectives established a friendly environment in the church hall and members of the church made tea, coffee and sandwiches, and even gave each victim a pack containing toiletries and contact details for the church. The relationship we have with this NCA team is invaluable on days like this and it hoped that it will get stronger going forward.
- PSNI MSHTU work closely with NCA is their network of NCA International Liaison Officers who are based in countries across the world. These contacts have help us locate victims who have returned home and on occasions have help us gain vital intelligence for different operations, that once fed through the systems allows us to progress matters. They are also useful when contact with Police in the other country is required and can go and speak to Police Officers direct which speed things up. ILOs we have used recently include the Slovakian and the African desks.
The annual costs involved are detailed below for the period 1 April 2015 – 31st March 2019.
- 15/16 - £1,390,652.00
- 16/17 - £1,390,652.00
- 17/18 - £1,390,652.00