Britain’s new FBI-style National Crime Agency launched

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has been launched with an annual budget of nearly half a billion pounds.

16:58 07 October 2013

In a bid to tackle organised crimes and secure the UK’s borders more effectively, Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has been launched on Monday.

With an annual budget of £463m for resources and £31m for capital, the agency will be tasked to solve serious and organised crime cases that involve about 37,000 criminals.

NCA director general Keith Bristow said: "To be clear, there will be no one beyond the reach of law enforcement or beyond the reach of the NCA.

"Those people involved in the most horrible activities can expect the most comprehensive and robust response."

He added: "We're going to be visible. We want the public to know who we are, what we do, what we're delivering, to understand the serious and organised crime threat that affects every neighbourhood and every citizen throughout the UK."

"Frankly, we want the criminals to know who we are, because we want them to fear our attention."

The launch of the NCA was the result of Home Secretary Theresa May’s proposal in June 2010 as part of a broader shake-up of UK policing. During that time, she said that the US-style agency would help UK police to be more effective in tackling organised crimes.

More than 4,000 NCA officers will tackle crime under four commands – child exploitation and online protection, economic crime, border policing, and organised crimes.