The government is setting up a National Police Service – dubbed the “British FBI” – to deal with organised crime, terrorism, fraud and online child abuse in a major change to policing in England and Wales.
The new organisation, which will be announced by the Home Office in a white paper on Monday, means fraud, criminal gang and UK-wide counter terror investigations will no longer be carried out by a combination of existing agencies such as the National Crime Agency and regional organised crime units run by local police forces.
The National Police Service (NPS) will instead deploy “world-class talent” and “state-of-the-art technology” to carry out these investigations nationally, enabling local police officers to use more of their resources to crack down on less serious and complex local crimes, such as shoplifting or antisocial behaviour.
Under the plans, the work of the counter-terror policing unit led by the Metropolitan police, the National Police Air Service run by West Yorkshire police and national roads policing operations will all be carried out by the new NPS, which will share technology, intelligence and resources across borders.
“The current policing model was built for a different century,” said the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
“Some local forces lack the skills or resources they need to fight complex modern crime such as fraud, online child abuse or organised criminal gangs,” she added.
“We will create a new National Police Service – dubbed ‘the British FBI’ – deploying world-class talent and state-of-the-art technology to track down and catch dangerous criminals.
“In doing so, local forces will be able to spend more time fighting crime in their communities.”
The NPS will be run by a national police commissioner who will become the most senior police chief in the country. It will set standards and training for police forces and acquire new technology such as facial recognition cameras – a controversial move that has provoked fierce criticism over its impact on privacy and human rights – on behalf of all police forces.
A joint statement from the Met, counter-terrorism policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “Modern crime requires a modern policing response. We support and have been calling for this ambitious step to bring together some of the most capable policing teams in the country into a single National Police Service.
“This builds on the high international regard that already exists among partners for counter-terrorism policing, whose capabilities and professionalism are recognised globally.
“This transformation, however, must be delivered with care. Its success depends on maintaining strong connections with local policing and the communities we serve.
“Neighbourhood officers remain indispensable in disrupting organised crime and countering terrorism. Their relationships, insights and presence on the ground are foundational to public safety.
“As we implement this reform programme, protecting those vital local links will be essential to ensuring the new National Police Service strengthens – not separates – the bond between policing and the public.”
The NPS will be created in stages, working alongside existing agencies and regional organised crime units for the transition.
Backing the plans, Neil Basu, former head of counter-terrorism policing, said NPS will be “far more capable as one national security system dealing more effectively with major crime, organised crime and terrorism in all its forms”.
Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Crime Agency, which would be merged into the new organisation, is also supporting the proposals.
“I am proud of the brilliant work NCA officers do to protect the public from serious and organised crime and new and emerging threats,” he said. “But the overall policing system is out of date. Crime has changed, technology has changed, and how we respond needs to change.
“As part of reform, we need a single, stronger national law enforcement body, building on the NCA and others, to more coherently tackle organised crime, fraud, terrorism and the new international and online threats we face.”
Biggar added: “These are threats that affect us all locally, but need a national and international response. Such a body would enable us to improve how we protect the public, our communities and the country.”
Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, has also previously supported the idea of the national responsibility for counter-terrorism being removed from his force.
But the plans were met with concern on the part of Graham Wettone, a policing analyst.
Wettone is a former frontline operational officer of 30 years’ experience who specialised in public order, policing protests and demonstrations.
He said: “Hopefully they have consulted with those people actually doing the job: operational frontline officers and frontline detectives, the detectives actually going out investigating crime, police officers in uniform answering calls.
“I don’t believe they have. From what I’m hearing, it seems to me it’s largely come from the Home Office, from people that have advised or guided the Home Office as to what policing needs, having never actually done the job at all – possibly from police leaders who haven’t actually done the job for some period of time.”
But, he added: “Fraud investigations are complex, so probably do need a national overview. Because there’s now a huge amount of online fraud, it covers many areas of the country, so having one force managing it is very, very difficult when your offenders and your victims can be in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Devon and Cornwall.
“So it makes sense. It makes sense to nationalise some aspects as organised crime groups don’t stick to county boundaries. They literally work across the country, and will move people across the country from force to force area.”
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