Article Details

UK's NCA disputes claim it's nearly three times less efficient than the FBI. Report on serious organized crime fails to account for differences, agency says. The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has hit back at a think tank after it assessed its US counterpart, the FBI, to be nearly three times more effective. An agency spokesperson took aim at the Social Market Foundation's report, which itself acknowledged its claim was based on a "crude" extrapolation of arrest figures by number of officers, saying: "This is not a credible method of comparison." "Arrest figures alone are not an authoritative measure of impact, and while both are national law enforcement bodies, the remits of the NCA and FBI are substantially different," they added. The FBI covers more ground than the NCA. Unlike its UK cousins, the feds are tasked with investigating crimes such as murders and armed robberies, and it also leads on counter-terrorism, none of which fall under the NCA's remit. Nevertheless, the think tank came up with a "crude proxy" comparison, saying that if NCA officers had been as productive in terms of arrests as the FBI, across 2023-2024 it would have made an additional 1,900 arrests. "Whilst arrests are a crude proxy, it is nevertheless a useful one for comparatively assessing the efficacy of a law enforcement entity, especially when there is a paucity of other data on which to base comparisons," the report reads. The report isn't so much a hit piece on the NCA as it is a scathing critique of the UK's approach to tackling serious organized crime (SOC), a matter very much within NCA's remit. However, criticism of a government's SOC results invariably leads to comments on the individuals charged with delivering them, and many of the UK's supposed weaknesses were reportedly within the NCA. Social Market Foundation highlighted various issues with the crime-fighting agency, ranging from recruitment, retention, and pay packages lagging behind the police's, to misaligned technological ambitions between it and regional organized crime units (ROCUs). It also accused both the UK government and NCA of failing to adequately invest in the equipment required to handle increasingly sophisticated SOC cases. Altogether, this led the think tank and the experts it interviewed while compiling its report to suspect that over the long term the UK has made little significant impact to quell the threat of SOC, despite periodic successes. No raining on this parade The report comes on the heels of a major win for the NCA this week, having arrested four individuals – three teens and a 20-year-old – following its investigation into the ransomware attacks on British retail giants. Announcing the news on July 10, it refused to reveal too many details about their identities for various reasons, some of which cannot be reported at this time, but their ages are one factor. All four are believed to have played a role in the attacks on M&S, Co-op, and Harrods, but none have yet been charged. However, the quartet of alleged cybercriminals are suspected of violating the Computer Misuse Act and committing other crimes including blackmail, money laundering, and participating in the activities of an organized crime group. "There is no comprehensive and detailed measure (or set of metrics) that accurately illustrates the totality of the scale and impact of organised crime on England and Wales," Social Market Foundation stated. "Neither is there a consensus on the feasibility of collecting such data. Nevertheless, the best available data all support the NCA's description of a worsening picture (as a consequence of a lack of any significant strategic effect against SOC) as being correct." The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime ranks the UK poorly in terms of its SOC problem, which has worsened considerably in recent years. As of 2023, it deemed the UK worse compared to other developed countries such as the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and others. It had fallen 38 places in the rankings since 2021, a far steeper decline than that of other countries. The think tank also cited NCA and Home Office data that showed the number of people participating in SOC both in and against the UK had risen by 61 percent by 2023 compared to 2014. Each of those 59,000 people is estimated to contribute to £797,000 ($1.07 million) worth of economic damage per year, Social Market Foundation said. To combat the rising tide of crime on British shores, Social Market Foundation urged the UK to revamp its national strategy to typify SOC as the most pervasive national security threat to the country. It also urged the government to increase the NCA's budget so that it can invest in better infrastructure, and improve its recruitment and retention strategy. The NCA spokesperson told The Register: "The NCA continues to be world leading in many areas. In our last reporting year we had our biggest ever impact on serious and organised crime, tangibly degrading or eradicating a criminal threat more than 12 times every day. And we are on track to exceed that achievement this year. "Even while we achieve more, the scale and complexity of serious and organised crime continues to evolve, so we are focused on ensuring we have the resources, people, and tools we need to tackle the most harmful criminals impacting the UK. "We are also working closely with policing partners and government to scope how the entire policing and law enforcement system can best protect the public from serious and organised crime at local, regional, and national level."