The National Crime Squad (NCS) was a

British police Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Most law enforcement duties are carried out by police, police constables of ...

organisation which dealt with national and transnational organised and major crimes. Formed in April 1998 after the amalgamation of six former Regional Crime Squads, it merged with parts of HM Customs & Excise and the

National Criminal Intelligence Service The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) was a United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, policing agency. Following the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2001, NCIS returned to direct funding by the Home Office in 2002 and was a ...

on 1 April 2006 to become the

Serious Organised Crime Agency The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) was a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national law enforcement agency with Home Office sponsorship, e ...

. Subsequent to the

Police Reform Act 2002 The Police Reform Act 2002 (c. 30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Amongst the provisions of the Act are the creation of the role of Police Community Support Officers, who have some police powers whilst not being 'sworn' con ...

, the NCS Service Authority reported directly to the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and had nationwide and international jurisdiction. It did not handle security matters, referring such matters to the appropriate security service.

Areas of focus

The NCS primarily dealt with

organised crime Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some ...

, major

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

contract killing Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, moneta ...

arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal tra ...

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

, computer and high tech crimes, money counterfeiting and laundering,

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

kidnap Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

ping and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

relating to any of the above. Lastly, it augmented and supported regional forces throughout the United Kingdom.

Organisation

The organisation's officers were seconded from police forces from

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

, supported by directly recruited specialist civilian and police staff members. It was headed by a director-general and had its own service authority. The first director-general was Roy Penrose, OBE QPM, and upon his retirement in 2001, William Hughes, CBE QPM became the director-general before moving on to establish the Serious Organised Crime Agency as its founding director-general. Trevor Pearce CBE QPM previously deputy director-general took over as the third director-general before becoming an executive director and later director-general of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The NCS headquarters was at

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

in London, with three Regional Operational Command Units: Northern, Eastern, and Western with an extensive residential property estate plus other premises. Other units were the Financial OCU, the

Paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

Unit, the

National Hi-Tech Crime Unit The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) previously formed part of the National Crime Squad, a British Police organisation which dealt with major crime. The National Hi-Tech Crime Unit was created in 2001 as a result of an Association of Chief Poli ...

, and the Immigration Crime Team. The NCS consisted of 1,656 full-time personnel, including 5 Directors, 1,169 seconded police officers, and 280 civilian police staff.

Appearances in fiction

The NCS was fictionalised in the television series '' NCS: Manhunt'', and in '' Burnside'', a spin-off of ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''.

References

External links

* {{UK home nations police forces Government agencies established in 1998 Government agencies disestablished in 2006 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom 2006 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct law enforcement agencies of the United Kingdom