12. Written evidence from the National
Criminal Intelligence Service
Thank you for your letter of 2 November inviting
the National Criminal Intelligence Service to submit evidence
to the committee's inquiry into the nature and impact of organised
crime in Northern Ireland and the effectiveness of the measures
taken to counter it.
It might be helpful if I give a brief explanation
of the NCIS role in Northern Ireland. The office is based at the
PSNI Headquarters and was established in 1997 with the secondment
of a detective sergeant from the RUC. The office has grown since
then and we now have a staff of eight made up of direct employees
(two of whom are former PSNI officers) and secondees from the
United Kingdom Immigration Service and HM Revenue and Customs.
That presence will be maintained as NCIS becomes subsumed into
the Serious Organised Crime Agency on 1 April and I understand
that colleagues from the new agency have already been in discussion
with stakeholders in Northern Ireland about how that level of
support will be arranged.
NCIS is mandated by; the Police Act to gather,
store and analyse information in order to provide criminal intelligence
to police forces in Great Britain, the Police Service of Northern
Ireland, the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency, the National Crime
Squad, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and other law enforcement
agencies and to act in support of such law enforcement partners
as they carry out their criminal intelligence activities.
The PSNI leads in the fight against serious
organised crime in Northern Ireland and so it is not surprising
that the bulk of NCIS services delivered there are in support
of the force's activities. NCIS has completed both problem and
target profiles on behalf of the PSNI, but from across the law
enforcement and government sections. Among other things, that
has created an environment which has led to a greater shared understanding
across the law enforcement community in Northern Ireland. An Assistant
Director has recently been replaced as the NCIS representative
of the OCTF by a Deputy Director (designate) of the Serious Organised
Crime Agency and a Senior Manager and Principal Intelligence Officer
contribute to the expert sub-groups on Drugs, Organised Immigration
Crime and Intellectual Property Crime.
In the absence of a formal multi-agency tasking
and co-ordination process, NCIS has responded to individual taskings
from partners in Northern Ireland. Recent examples have included
a problem profile on cash in transit for the PSNI and a baseline
assessment of Gangmaster activity for the Northern Ireland Gangmaster
forum. We have also given intelligence support to PSNI operations
in the areas of Class A drugs, money laundering, organised illegal
immigration, the sale of firearms and bank robbery. We also helped
to support and co-ordinate a joint operation by the PSNI and HMRC
into a criminal group who were committing a range of offences
including revenue fraud.
In addition to services of specific interest
to partners in Northern Ireland, NCI produces a range of products
that seek to asses the nature and impact of individual facets
of organised criminality as it impacts on the UK. The OCTF commissions
the Northern Ireland Threat Assessment which informs the United
Kingdom Threat Assessment. The OCTF Assessment is the authoritative
document that defines and analyses the threat posed by serious
Norganised crime to Northern Ireland. I think, given the unique
nature of organised crime in Northern Ireland, that approach is
a sensible one and NCIS would not contradict the OCTF report's
findings.
As you will appreciate, given the role of NCIS
that I have outlined, I think it would be inappropriate for me
to comment on the effectiveness of the measures taken against
organised crime in Northern Ireland.
Peter Hampson
Director General
2 December 2005
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