27. Written evidence from the National
Criminal Intelligence Service
INQUIRY INTO THE POLICE SERVICE, CRIME AND
ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN WALES
Thank you for your letter of 22 October asking
for information on NCIS and our effect on policing in Wales.
NCIS supports the Police Service in Wales against
serious and organised crime through the provision of intelligence
products allied with process management responsibilities as required
by the National Intelligence Model Regional Tasking and Co-ordination
Policy. To facilitate this NCIS has a dedicated Regional Intelligence
Unit based in Bridgend.
The NCIS Wales RIU has on-site access to the
ELEMENTARY database on serious and organised crime. The unit is
co-located in offices with other law enforcement assets, specifically
the Wales Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART), the Wales Special
Branch Regional Intelligence Cell (SB RIC), and a Regional Task
Force, all grouped under the generic heading of Operation Tarian+.
Physical co-location inevitably supports closer working, and consequently
this is an enhanced unit in comparison to other similar units
supporting ACPO regions in England.
The NCIS Wales RIU incorporates a Secretariat
dedicated to supporting the RTCG process in Wales. It provides
administrative support to ensure that meetings take place in line
with national policies, and are suitably attended and recorded.
The NCIS Secretariat also reports on the Performance of the RTCG
process in Wales by the provision of a six monthly review and
evaluation of Process and Products. The most recent review of
performance in Wales covers the period 1 April 2004 to 30 September
2004, and is attached as Annex A to this paper.
Although no formal comparison of RTCG performance
documents has as yet been conducted by the Police Standards Unit,
the NCIS assessment is that the Wales ACPO RTCG performance in
terms of both utilisation of process and results achieved can
be compared favourably with most other ACPO regions in England.
An important enabling factor for the RTCG process in Wales is
the availability of enforcement assets, specifically the Regional
Task Force that is available for tasking by the tactical meeting
of the RTCG.
The NCIS Wales RIU also contains one Senior
Intelligence Officer and six Intelligence Officers dedicated to
the provision of the following Intelligence Products designed
to inform and support the RTCG in its activity to combat serious
and organised crime in Wales:
— A yearly Regional Strategic Assessment
(RSA) coupled with a six monthly update that incorporates a draft
Regional Control Strategy (RCS) and a draft Regional Intelligence
Requirement (RIR) for ratification by the Strategic meeting of
the RTCG
— A quarterly Tactical Assessment that
reports on activity and results in line with the RCS.
— Problem Profiles in respect of elements
of the RCS as commissioned by the RTCG.
— Target Profiles in respect of the
most serious and organised criminal groups impacting on the RCS.
— Quarterly Network Analysis of the
major criminal groups responsible for the trafficking and distribution
of Class A drugs in Wales.
The formulation of the RSA by NCIS, and the
ratification of the RCS by the RTCG stipulate the priorities for
the Police Service response to serious and organised crime in
Wales in terms of intelligence priorities, enforcement priorities
and prevention priorities. The current RCS in Wales is:
— Organised Immigration Crime
NCIS also has an intelligence officer based
within the multi-agency Wales RART providing intelligence support
in respect of asset recovery operations, and live access to the
ELMER suspicious transaction report disclosure database.
NCIS assets sited in Wales are also supplemented
by other resources based in Bristol, and Manchester (in the respect
of North Wales Police), that have responsibility for intelligence
collection in Wales in respect of national strategy requirements
such as CIDA (Concerted Inter-Agency Drug Action) and REFLEX,
(Organised Immigration Crime Strategy).
NCIS have effective partnerships with other
national law enforcement based in Wales, in particular the National
Crime Squad, H.M. Customs and Excise and the U.K. Immigration
Service.
Peter Hampson
Director General
10 December 2004
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