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{{Short description|Non-departmental public body of the UK government from 2006-13}}
{{pp-semi-vandalism}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox UK Police | {{Infobox law enforcement agency
| name= Serious Organised Crime Agency |agencyname = Serious Organised Crime Agency
| area= Nationwide |nativename =
| start= 2006 |nativenamea =
|nativenamer =
| population= 60,609,153
|commonname =
| size= 244 821 km² / 94,526 sq mi
|abbreviation = SOCA
| officers= 4,200 (staff)
| title= Director-General |patch =
|patchcaption =
| head= Bill Hughes
|logo = Serious Organised Crime Agency logo.svg
| divname= Divisions
| divno= n/a |logocaption =
|image_size = 250px
| stations= n/a
| HQ= London |badge =
|badgecaption =
| budget= £457M (2006/07)
| map= Image:UKPoliceNational.PNG |flag =
|flagcaption =
| image= ]
| web= |motto =
|mottotranslated =
|mission =
|formedyear = 1 April 2006
|dissolved = 7 October 2013
|superseding = ]
|preceding1 = ]
|preceding2 = ]
|preceding3 = ]
|preceding4 = Serious drug trafficking investigative and intelligence sections of ]
|preceding5 = ]'s responsibilities for organised immigration crime
|employees = 4,200
|volunteers =
|budget = £494M (2008/09)
|nongovernment =
|country = United Kingdom
|countryabbr =
|national = Yes
|map = UKPoliceNational.PNG
|mapcaption = United Kingdom
|sizearea = {{convert|244821|km2|sqmi|0}}
|sizepopulation = 60,609,153
|legaljuris = ], ] and ]
|governingbody =
|governingbodyscnd =
|constitution1 =
|oversighttype =
|oversightbody = The SOCA Board
|headquarters = London, England
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|sworntype =
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|minister1name =
|minister1pfo = ]
|chief1name = Trevor Pearce
|chief1position = Director-General
|parentagency =
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|unittype = Division
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|footnotes =
|reference =
}} }}


The '''Serious Organised Crime Agency''' ('''SOCA''') is a ] in the ] that acts against ], including the ], ], and ]. The Serious Organised Crime Agency works in conjunction with The '''Serious Organised Crime Agency''' ('''SOCA''') was a ] of the ] which existed from 1 April 2006 until 7 October 2013. SOCA was a national ] with ] sponsorship, established as a body corporate under Section 1 of the ]. It operated within the United Kingdom and collaborated (through its network of international offices) with many foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies.
the ] and the Northern Ireland Organised Crime Agency, which is responsible for coordinating operations against organised crime in
].


The Agency was formed following a merger of the ], the ] (elements of which were incorporated into ]), the ] (NHTCU), the investigative and intelligence sections of ] on serious drug trafficking, and the ]'s responsibilities for organised immigration crime. The ] became part of SOCA in 2008, while the ] remained a separate agency.
==Background==


SOCA Officers could be designated the powers of a ], ] or ] and/or any combination of these three sets of powers. The Director General of SOCA (or his designate) was responsible for determining which powers were given to members of staff which could be altered depending on the nature of the investigation.<ref></ref> Those police powers requiring a constable to be in uniform could not be exercised by SOCA Officers as the agency was non-uniformed.
SOCA formally came into being on ] ] following a merger of the ], the ], the ] (NHTCU), the investigative and intelligence sections of ] on serious drug trafficking, and the ]'s responsibilities for organised immigration crime. The ] remains as a separate agency.


SOCA operated with greater powers in ] than in ] and ] and as such worked with the ] and the ], which shared some of its functions in their respective jurisdictions.
The creation of the agency was announced on ] ] as one of the elements of the ], which also restricts protests and demonstrations in ], and alters powers of arrest and the use of search warrants.Parallels have been drawn between the organisation and the ] of the ]: indeed, parts of the press have labelled SOCA as the "British FBI." <ref></ref> The duties and functions of SOCA, however, are more akin to that of ]. Additionally, comparisons with the FBI and ICE are not strictly accurate due to non-] nature of the ], and the completely different structure of policing. Police forces will continue to deal with most crime whilst SOCA will assist forces and also work independently with regards to serious organised crime. SOCA is an intelligence agency which has the role of "reducing harm", not specifically the arrest and conviction of offenders.


In June 2011, the ] announced that SOCA's operations would be merged into a larger ] to launch in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/careers/opportunities | title=SOCA Opportunities | publisher=Serious Organised Crime Agency |access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref> The new agency, created through the ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/crime/nca-creation-plan |title=National Crime Agency - a plan for the creation of a national crime-fighting capability |publisher=Home Office |date=8 June 2011 |access-date=7 May 2012}}</ref> commenced operations on 7 October 2013.
SOCA does not deal with issues of national security and does not have a counter terrorism or counter intelligence role like the FBI. The Security Service ] and ] ] are the lead national units in this area<ref> </ref> . Scotland Yard also has important national resources such as the ] which is often involved in major national and international criminal investigations.<ref> </ref> Other important national agencies include the ] which provides analysis and support to law enforcement agencies and the ] which is a national scientific resource, along with the Laboratory of Goverment Chemist (]). Major ], ] and ] investigations both at home and abroad are headed by the ] <ref></ref> and ].


==Overview==
There has been criticism of SOCA Officers shouting 'Stop Armed Police' in order to apprehend armed subjects by the Police Federation of England and Wales, as SOCA officers are
The creation of the agency was announced on 9 February 2004 as one of the elements of the ], which also restricts protests and demonstrations in ], and alters powers of arrest and the use of search warrants. According to ] figures organised crime costs the UK around ]20 billion each year, with some estimates putting the figure as high as £40 billion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/organised-crime/ |title=Organised and international crime |website=Home Office |access-date=14 February 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060213212819/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime-victims/reducing-crime/organised-crime/ |archive-date=13 February 2006}}</ref>
not police officers. However SOCA has argued that the term SOCA or Serious Organised Crime Agency may not be understood by criminals and that 'Stop Armed Police' is universally understood. <ref></ref> Unlike the FBI who have a ], SOCA does not deal with Armed Hostage Situations, such incidents in the UK are generally dealt with by the Metropolitan Police ] and the ] Anti-Terrorism Team.<ref> </ref> <ref> - January 2007 </ref>


SOCA had a national remit and the role of the agency was to support individual police forces in the investigation of crime and conduct independent investigations with regard to serious organised crime. SOCA was an agency which had the role of "reducing harm", not specifically the arrest and conviction of offenders.<ref>{{cite book |author=Home Office |author-link=Home Office |title=Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 - Explanatory Notes |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/15/notes |access-date=12 August 2014 |year=2005 |publisher=] |location=London |isbn=0-10-561505-6 |page=5 |quote=SOCA will be an intelligence-led organisation. Its core objective will be to reduce the harm caused by organised crime.}}</ref>
Former National Crime Squad detective Peter Blekesley said SOCA "needs to be elite. It needs to be secretive to a certain degree. To catch people in the highest echelon of organised crime needs a lot of dedication, a lot of expertise, a lot of officers who are multi-skilled, and devotion to the task. It's not an easy thing to take out the top people who are top of the criminal pile."<ref>{{cite news|publisher=]|title=New 'FBI-style' agency launched|date=] ]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4867108.stm}}</ref>


Elements of the media attempted to draw parallels between the organisation and the ] of the ]: indeed, parts of the press labelled SOCA the "British FBI."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4163871.stm |title='British FBI' to have new powers |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=11 January 2005 |website=] |publisher=BBC News |access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Blair unveils plan for 'British FBI' |agency=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/feb/09/ukcrime.immigrationpolicy |newspaper=] |location=London |date=9 February 2004 |access-date=9 August 2013}}</ref>
SOCA is subject to similar internal and external safeguards as the police service. The SOCA ] Standards Department is responsible for receiving, investigating and monitoring the progress of public complaints about the misconduct of SOCA officers. Serious complaints regarding SOCA are dealt with by the ] (IPCC)<ref></ref>.The IPCC will decide the appropriate method of investigation. In general terms, the IPCC will handle complaints against SOCA officers in the same manner as complaints against Police Officers or officers of ]. The Police Ombudsman of ] (PONI) will deal with complaints in ]. In ], this will be the responsibility of the ]. There will also be a ] inspection regime for SOCA, provided through ] (HMIC). <ref></ref> SOCA has a UK-wide remit, but will work in partnership with agencies in ] and ]. <ref></ref>


SOCA was subject to similar internal and external governance mechanisms as the police service. The SOCA Professional Standards Department was responsible for receiving, investigating and monitoring the progress of public complaints about the misconduct of SOCA officers. Serious complaints regarding SOCA were dealt with by the ] (IPCC) now the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).<ref></ref> The IPCC would decide the appropriate method of investigation. In general terms, the IPCC would handle complaints against SOCA officers in the same manner as complaints against police officers or officers of ]. The Police Ombudsman of ] (PONI) dealt with complaints in ]. In ], this was the responsibility of the ]. There was also a ] inspection regime for SOCA, provided through ] (HMIC).<ref name=autogenerated1></ref>
According to Home Office figures Organised Crime costs the UK around ]20 billion each year, with some estimates putting the figure as high as £40 billion.<ref></ref>


==Administration== ==Governance==
The agency was an executive ] sponsored by, but operationally independent from, the ]. It was funded by the UK's central government, with a provisional budget for 2006/7 of £457m, of which £416m funded on-going resources and £41m was capital investment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/faqs/index.html |title=National Crime Agency - Home |publisher=Soca.gov.uk |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref> At formation it was intended to have around 4,200 employees, of which 400 were support staff. Of the remaining workforce, half would be criminal investigators and the other half would focus on analysis and intelligence. SOCA co-operated closely with the police, intelligence agencies, ], foreign police forces and others.


SOCA was led by a board comprising non-executive and executive members. The founding non-executive chairman, responsible for the overall approach of the Agency, was Sir ], former Director General of the ]. Lander was succeeded by Sir Ian Andrews, a former MOD Civil Servant. The other original non-executive directors of the board were Stephen Barrett, Elizabeth France, Ken Jarrold, ] and General ]. Prior to closure, the non-executive directors were ], Sue Garrard, Francis Plowden and Dr Martyn Thomas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/about-soca/how-we-are-run |title=National Crime Agency - Home |publisher=Soca.gov.uk |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref> The original executive directors of the board were David Bolt, Malcolm Cornberg, Paul Evans and Trevor Pearce,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/aboutUs/governance.html |title=National Crime Agency - Home |publisher=Soca.gov.uk |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref> and today they are Malcolm Cornberg, Paul Evans, Trevor Pearce and Brad Jones. The agency's headquarters were in ], not far from New Scotland Yard. There was also an office in Vauxhall, South London, not far from the ] and the ].
The agency is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by, but operationally independent from, the ]. It is funded by central government, with a provisional budget for 2006/7 of £457m, of which £416m funds on-going resources and £41m is capital investment.<ref> from SOCA website.</ref>. It will have around 4,200 employees, of which 400 are backroom staff. Of the remaining workforce, half will be criminal investigators and the other half will focus on analysis and intelligence. SOCA will co-operate closely with the ], intelligence agencies, ], foreign police forces and others. From April 2008, the Assets Recovery Agency is to become part of SOCA.


The founding Director General was ], formerly of the National Crime Squad. Hughes retired in 2010 and was succeeded by Trevor Pearce, who until then was Executive Director of SOCA's Enforcement Directorate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/news/269-new-interim-director-general |title=National Crime Agency - Home |publisher=Soca.gov.uk |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref>
It is led by a board with 11 members. The non-executive chairman, responsible for the overall approach of SOCA, is Sir ], a former head of ]. The other non-executive directors of the board are Stephen Barrett, Elizabeth France, Ken Jarrold, ] and General Sir ]. Day-to-day leadership is provided by the Director General, ], who is able to designate SOCA officers as having the powers of a police constable, a customs officer, or an immigration officer. The other executive directors of the board are David Bolt, Malcolm Cornberg, ] and Trevor Pearce.<ref> from SOCA website.</ref> The agency's headquarters are in ], South London, not far from ] and the ].<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan-turnbull/secret.htm
|title=Alan Turnbull’s "Secret Bases"}}</ref>


The board has decided that around 40% of its effort should be devoted to combating drug trafficking, 25% to tackling organised immigration crime, around 10% to fraud, 15% on other organised crime and the remaining 10% on supporting other law enforcement agencies.<ref> from SOCA website.</ref> The board directed that around 40% of its effort should be devoted to combating drug trafficking, 25% to tackling organised immigration crime, around 10% to fraud, 15% on other organised crime and the remaining 10% on supporting other law enforcement agencies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/aboutUs/aims.html |title=National Crime Agency - Home |publisher=Soca.gov.uk |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref>


==Organisation==
The organisation has been split up into four directorates: intervention (finding ways to obstruct organised criminals); intelligence (building up a detailed picture of organised crime gangs); enforcement (investigating organised crime gangs); and corporate services (the administrative back up to the operational side).
The organisation was split into three major directorates:


*Strategy and Prevention - Responsible for driving SOCA strategy and reflecting government priorities. Bringing together those functions focussed on preventative activity with partners such as disruption of criminal activities and denial of assets.
==Intelligence Role and Secrecy==
*Operational Delivery - Responsible for identifying how and where the desired impact and response can be achieved, planning and executing operations and the subsequent criminal justice and other disruptive interventions.
*Capability and Service Delivery - Supporting activities


The Agency had to deal with the effects of significant budget cuts that have affected both its strategy for dealing with organised crime and its ability to retain experienced police officers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3919686.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080724141405/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3919686.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 July 2008 |title=Soca abandons hunt for crime lords |publisher=Time Online |date=13 May 2008 | location=London | first=Sean | last=O'Neill | access-date=23 May 2010}}</ref>
SOCA operates from at least 40 offices across the UK. SOCA officers are empowered to perform a number of surveillance roles traditionally associated with British intelligence services such as ], although, unlike MI5 officers, some designated SOCA officers enjoy powers of arrest. SOCA is exempt from the provisions of the ].


The ] (CEOP) operated as an independent component of SOCA and was staffed by SOCA officers. The task of online child protection had previously been (in part) the responsibility of the NHTCU. CEOP recently announced the opening of the CEOP Academy, designed to be a centre of excellence in this area of law enforcement.<ref></ref> CEOP works in conjunction with New Scotland Yard Child Abuse Investigation Command which has its own hi-tech unit.<ref></ref>
== National Central Bureau==


On 1 April 2012, the Missing Persons Bureau, Central Witness Bureau, Specialist Operations Centre, Crime Operational Support and Serious Crime Analysis Section transferred from the National Policing Improvement Agency to SOCA, as an interim measure ahead of the proposed establishment of the National Crime Agency in 2013.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/news/433-five-specialist-units-join-soca |title=Five specialist units from the NPIA join SOCA |date=1 April 2012 |publisher=Serious Organised Crime Agency |access-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> CEOP became an independent command of the National Crime Agency when it began operations on 7 October 2013.
SOCA acts as the UK point of contact for ], ] and the ].


==Operations==
In this capacity SOCA maintains the following functions:
{{More citations needed|section|date=March 2017}}


===National Central Bureau===
* Single point of contact for International enquiries from SOCA and all UK Police and law enforcement agencies.
SOCA acted as the UK point of contact for ], ] and the ].


In this capacity SOCA maintained the following functions:
* 24/7 capacity for Interpol with direct connections to their databases and provides a specialist service to Europol through our Europol Liaison Officers.
* Single point of contact for International enquiries from SOCA and all UK Police and law enforcement agencies.
* 24/7 capacity for Interpol with direct connections to their databases and provides a specialist service to ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statewatch.org/news/2012/aug/09eu-secret-police-networks.html |title=Another secretive European police working group revealed as governments remain tight-lipped on other police networks and the activities of Mark Kennedy |date=23 August 2012 |publisher=] News online |access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> through Europol Liaison Officers.
* Coordination of all inbound and outbound Cross Border Surveillance requests with Schengen partners.
* Dedicated Fugitives Unit that acts as the UK Central Authority for all ] (EAW).


===Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS)===
* Coordination of all inbound and outbound Cross Border Surveillance requests with Schengen partners.
The Serious Crime Analysis Section moved to SOCA from the National Policing Improvement Agency on 1 April 2012 in advance of the planned establishment of the National Crime Agency in 2013. SCAS is based at Foxley Hall in the grounds of the ], ] in ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13127143 |title=Secrets of the crime analysts |publisher=BBC News |date= 29 April 2011}}</ref> It was originally formed by the Home Office in 1998 to identify the potential emergence of ] and serial ] at the earliest stage of their offending. This scope has since broadened to include the analysis by specialist staff of rapes, serious sexual assaults and motiveless or sexually motivated murders.


Criminal case files are received by SCAS from all police forces in the UK at an early stage in the investigations. The information is coded and placed on a single database, ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System). The system was developed in Canada by the ].
* Dedicated Fugitives Unit that acts as the UK Central Authority for all European Arrest Warrants (EAW).


The investigating officer receives a report from a crime analyst with a number of key elements designed to assist the investigation. It will identify if there are grounds to believe that the offender has previously been identified. It will also provide a breakdown of the ] exhibited in the ], often with a ] description of some of the elements involved. This can alert an investigator to the importance of some aspects of the offence not immediately apparent. SCAS are also responsible for identifying good practice, or "what works", so the analyst's report may contain "investigative suggestions" that might guide the officer to a specific line of enquiry not yet considered. The report may also suggest possible suspects that the unit has identified from a number of databases. When a prime suspect has been identified and charged with an offence, senior analysts are able to provide specialist evidence in court, to assist with the prosecution of offenders.
==Money laundering==
SOCA takes over responsibility for dealing with ]s (SARs), previously made to NCIS under the money laundering legislation. NCIS received just under 200,000 SARs in 2005. Despite criticism from professional representative bodies that the disclosure rules are too broad, SOCA has said that up to one in three SARs lead to or add substantially to terrorism investigations; that ] estimates that around one in five SARs identifies new subjects of interest, and one in four SARs lead to direct tax enquiries; and that many arrests and confiscations of criminal assets.<ref> from SOCA website.</ref>


===Crime Operational Support===
Subject to the passing of the necessary legislation, the ] will become part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency from April 2008. Both ARA and SOCA are committed to maintaining their efforts in the recovery of criminal assets during the transition. The power to launch ] proceedings has been extended to the three main ] in ] and ]; the ] (CPS), the ] (RCPO) and the ] (SFO). It will also be extended to the ] in ] and the ] in ]. <ref></ref>
The Crime Operational Support unit also moved to SOCA, and provides specialist operational skills and to assist in the resolution of exceptional crime series and operational critical incidents.


Four regional teams of investigative advisers support regional investigations, and are themselves supported by the specialist skills of crime investigation officers, behavioural investigative advisers and geographic profilers. The unit identifies best practice in investigations, and makes these known through workshops and seminars.
==Child Protection==
The ] (CEOP) is technically part of SOCA and its officers are SOCA officers. However, CEOP largely operates separately to the bulk of SOCA. The task of online child protection had previously been (in part) the responsibility of the NHTCU. CEOP recently announced the opening of the CEOP Academy, designed to be a centre of excellence in this area of law enforcement. <ref></ref> CEOP works in conjunction with New Scotland Yard Child Abuse Investigation Command which has its own hi-tech unit. <ref> </ref>


===Missing Persons Bureau===
==Computer crime==
The Missing Persons Bureau (MPB) transferred to SOCA in April 2012 along with SCAS. It had previously been based at ] until April 2008 when it was moved to the NPIA and based in ].
Officers from the former ] (NHTCU) became SOCA's e-crime unit. However, the remit of this unit is much narrower than that of the body it replaced. In particular, the NHTCU had established a confidentiality charter to encourage victims of ] to contact the police in confidence, because many corporate victims in particular do not report attacks due to fears of bad publicity. The loss of the confidentiality charter has been widely criticised. <ref>{{cite news |last=Bennett |first=Madeline |url=http://www.itweek.co.uk/2153704 |title=British FBI drops Confidentiality Charter for IT crime victims |publisher=IT Week |date=2006-04-07 |accessdate=2007-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Clayton |first=Richard |url=http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2006/02/06/mysterious-and-menacing/ |title=Mysterious and Menacing |publisher=Light Blue Touchpaper, Cambridge University security blog |date=2006-02-06 |accessdate=2007-03-14}}</ref> The Metropolitan Police has plans bridge the gap left by the disbandment of the NHTCU through an expansion of its Computer Unit and the formation of a National E-Crime Coordination Unit. <ref></ref>

The bureau acts as the centre for the exchange of information connected with the search for missing persons nationally and internationally. It is responsible for cross-matching missing persons with unidentified persons or bodies, as well as maintaining an index of dental records of missing persons and unidentified bodies.

The MPB also manages a missing persons and Child Rescue Alert website, and analyses data to identify trends and patterns in disappearances.

===National Injuries Database===
The National Injuries Database also transferred from the NPIA. It provides additional support to police forces by providing analysis of weapons and wounds, and seeking to identify similarities to aid investigators in determining which weapon may have been used. The database holds over 4,000 cases of suspicious deaths, murders and clinical cases, and contains over 20,000 images.

===Money laundering===
SOCA via the '''UK Financial Intelligence Unit''' took over responsibility for dealing with ]s (SARs), previously made to the ] (NCIS) under the ] legislation.

NCIS received just under 200,000 SARs in 2005 and throughout its active life was widely critical of the banking and financial services sector, and the ], for not being more transparent or forthcoming in reporting their customers suspicious activity.

Despite criticism from professional representative bodies that the disclosure rules are too broad, SOCA has said that up to one in three SARs lead to or add substantially to terrorism investigations; that ] estimates that around one in five SARs identifies new subjects of interest, and one in four SARs lead to direct tax enquiries; and that many arrests and confiscations of criminal assets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soca.gov.uk/financialIntel/index.html |title=National Crime Agency - Home |publisher=Soca.gov.uk |access-date=2014-08-12}}</ref>

The ] became part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency from April 2008. The power to launch ] proceedings has been extended to the three main ] in England and ]; the ] (CPS), the ] (RCPO) and the ] (SFO). It will also be extended to the ] in ] and the ] in Scotland.<ref></ref>

===Computer crime===
Officers from the former ] (NHTCU) became SOCA's e-crime unit. However, the remit of this unit is much narrower than that of the body it replaced. In particular, the NHTCU had established a confidentiality charter to encourage victims of ] to contact the police in confidence, because many corporate victims in particular do not report attacks due to fears of bad publicity. The loss of the confidentiality charter has been widely criticised.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bennett |first=Madeline |url=http://www.itweek.co.uk/2153704 |title=British FBI drops Confidentiality Charter for IT crime victims |publisher=IT Week |date=2006-04-07 |access-date=2007-03-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Clayton |first=Richard |url=http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2006/02/06/mysterious-and-menacing/ |title=Mysterious and Menacing |publisher=Light Blue Touchpaper, Cambridge University security blog |date=2006-02-06 |access-date=2007-03-14}}</ref> although similar protection is now provided by the same Act of Parliament used to create SOCA. The Metropolitan Police is to help bridge the gap left by the disbandment of the NHTCU through an expansion of its Computer Unit and the formation of the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU), which will work closely with the new National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC) from 2009.<ref></ref>

==Website outages==
The SOCA public information website, hosted by a third party, was subjected to a number of ] (DDOS) attacks.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17936962|title=Soca attack: Serious Organised Crime Agency site taken down|publisher=BBC News|date=3 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=DTdos>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9243249/Soca-website-shut-down-by-cyber-attack.html|title=Soca website shut down by cyber attack|publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=3 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|title=Soca website taken down after LulzSec 'Ddos attack'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13848510|access-date=20 June 2011|date=20 June 2011|newspaper=BBC }}</ref> ] ] claimed responsibility for the attack on 20 June 2011,<ref>{{cite news|last=Meyer|first=David|title=LulzSec claims Soca hack|url=http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/lulzsec-claims-soca-hack-10022772/|access-date=20 June 2011|newspaper=]|date=20 June 2011|agency=]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130114040522/http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/lulzsec-claims-soca-hack-10022772/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 January 2013}}</ref> including a suggestion that the DDOS attack was a cover for real hacking.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Henderson|first=Nicole|title=SOCA Website Back Online After LulzSec DDoS Attack|url=http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/062111_SOCA_Website_Back_Online_After_LulzSec_DDoS_Attack|access-date=21 June 2011|newspaper=Web Host Industry Review|date=21 June 2011}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* '']'', detailing police corruption within the ] and ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]

==External links==
*
*
*
*


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>


==External links==
{{UK Police}}
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Latest revision as of 03:20, 27 September 2024

Non-departmental public body of the UK government from 2006-13

Law enforcement agency
Serious Organised Crime Agency
[REDACTED]
AbbreviationSOCA
Agency overview
Formed1 April 2006
Preceding agencies
Dissolved7 October 2013
Superseding agencyNational Crime Agency
Employees4,200
Annual budget£494M (2008/09)
Jurisdictional structure
National agency
(Operations jurisdiction)		United Kingdom
Operations jurisdictionUnited Kingdom
United Kingdom
Size244,821 square kilometres (94,526 sq mi)
Population60,609,153
Legal jurisdictionEngland and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Operational structure
Overseen byThe SOCA Board
HeadquartersLondon, England
Agency executive
  • Trevor Pearce, Director-General
Child agency
Website
web.archive.org/*/http://www.soca.gov.uk

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, established as a body corporate under Section 1 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It operated within the United Kingdom and collaborated (through its network of international offices) with many foreign law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The Agency was formed following a merger of the National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (elements of which were incorporated into AVCIS), the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU), the investigative and intelligence sections of HM Revenue & Customs on serious drug trafficking, and the Immigration Service's responsibilities for organised immigration crime. The Assets Recovery Agency became part of SOCA in 2008, while the Serious Fraud Office remained a separate agency.

SOCA Officers could be designated the powers of a constable, customs officer or immigration officer and/or any combination of these three sets of powers. The Director General of SOCA (or his designate) was responsible for determining which powers were given to members of staff which could be altered depending on the nature of the investigation. Those police powers requiring a constable to be in uniform could not be exercised by SOCA Officers as the agency was non-uniformed.

SOCA operated with greater powers in England and Wales than in Scotland and Northern Ireland and as such worked with the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and the Organised Crime Task Force (Northern Ireland), which shared some of its functions in their respective jurisdictions.

In June 2011, the coalition government announced that SOCA's operations would be merged into a larger National Crime Agency to launch in 2013. The new agency, created through the Crime and Courts Act 2013, commenced operations on 7 October 2013.

Overview

The creation of the agency was announced on 9 February 2004 as one of the elements of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which also restricts protests and demonstrations in central London, and alters powers of arrest and the use of search warrants. According to Home Office figures organised crime costs the UK around £20 billion each year, with some estimates putting the figure as high as £40 billion.

SOCA had a national remit and the role of the agency was to support individual police forces in the investigation of crime and conduct independent investigations with regard to serious organised crime. SOCA was an agency which had the role of "reducing harm", not specifically the arrest and conviction of offenders.

Elements of the media attempted to draw parallels between the organisation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States: indeed, parts of the press labelled SOCA the "British FBI."

SOCA was subject to similar internal and external governance mechanisms as the police service. The SOCA Professional Standards Department was responsible for receiving, investigating and monitoring the progress of public complaints about the misconduct of SOCA officers. Serious complaints regarding SOCA were dealt with by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) now the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC). The IPCC would decide the appropriate method of investigation. In general terms, the IPCC would handle complaints against SOCA officers in the same manner as complaints against police officers or officers of HMRC. The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI) dealt with complaints in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, this was the responsibility of the Lord Advocate. There was also a bespoke inspection regime for SOCA, provided through Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).

Governance

The agency was an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by, but operationally independent from, the Home Office. It was funded by the UK's central government, with a provisional budget for 2006/7 of £457m, of which £416m funded on-going resources and £41m was capital investment. At formation it was intended to have around 4,200 employees, of which 400 were support staff. Of the remaining workforce, half would be criminal investigators and the other half would focus on analysis and intelligence. SOCA co-operated closely with the police, intelligence agencies, HM Revenue & Customs, foreign police forces and others.

SOCA was led by a board comprising non-executive and executive members. The founding non-executive chairman, responsible for the overall approach of the Agency, was Sir Stephen Lander, former Director General of the Security Service (MI5). Lander was succeeded by Sir Ian Andrews, a former MOD Civil Servant. The other original non-executive directors of the board were Stephen Barrett, Elizabeth France, Ken Jarrold, Janet Paraskeva and General Sir Roger Wheeler. Prior to closure, the non-executive directors were Peter Clarke, Sue Garrard, Francis Plowden and Dr Martyn Thomas. The original executive directors of the board were David Bolt, Malcolm Cornberg, Paul Evans and Trevor Pearce, and today they are Malcolm Cornberg, Paul Evans, Trevor Pearce and Brad Jones. The agency's headquarters were in Victoria, not far from New Scotland Yard. There was also an office in Vauxhall, South London, not far from the Palace of Westminster and the SIS Building.

The founding Director General was Bill Hughes, formerly of the National Crime Squad. Hughes retired in 2010 and was succeeded by Trevor Pearce, who until then was Executive Director of SOCA's Enforcement Directorate.

The board directed that around 40% of its effort should be devoted to combating drug trafficking, 25% to tackling organised immigration crime, around 10% to fraud, 15% on other organised crime and the remaining 10% on supporting other law enforcement agencies.

Organisation

The organisation was split into three major directorates:

  • Strategy and Prevention - Responsible for driving SOCA strategy and reflecting government priorities. Bringing together those functions focussed on preventative activity with partners such as disruption of criminal activities and denial of assets.
  • Operational Delivery - Responsible for identifying how and where the desired impact and response can be achieved, planning and executing operations and the subsequent criminal justice and other disruptive interventions.
  • Capability and Service Delivery - Supporting activities

The Agency had to deal with the effects of significant budget cuts that have affected both its strategy for dealing with organised crime and its ability to retain experienced police officers.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) operated as an independent component of SOCA and was staffed by SOCA officers. The task of online child protection had previously been (in part) the responsibility of the NHTCU. CEOP recently announced the opening of the CEOP Academy, designed to be a centre of excellence in this area of law enforcement. CEOP works in conjunction with New Scotland Yard Child Abuse Investigation Command which has its own hi-tech unit.

On 1 April 2012, the Missing Persons Bureau, Central Witness Bureau, Specialist Operations Centre, Crime Operational Support and Serious Crime Analysis Section transferred from the National Policing Improvement Agency to SOCA, as an interim measure ahead of the proposed establishment of the National Crime Agency in 2013. CEOP became an independent command of the National Crime Agency when it began operations on 7 October 2013.

Operations

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National Central Bureau

SOCA acted as the UK point of contact for Interpol, Europol and the Schengen Information System.

In this capacity SOCA maintained the following functions:

  • Single point of contact for International enquiries from SOCA and all UK Police and law enforcement agencies.
  • 24/7 capacity for Interpol with direct connections to their databases and provides a specialist service to Europol through Europol Liaison Officers.
  • Coordination of all inbound and outbound Cross Border Surveillance requests with Schengen partners.
  • Dedicated Fugitives Unit that acts as the UK Central Authority for all European Arrest Warrants (EAW).

Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS)

The Serious Crime Analysis Section moved to SOCA from the National Policing Improvement Agency on 1 April 2012 in advance of the planned establishment of the National Crime Agency in 2013. SCAS is based at Foxley Hall in the grounds of the Police Staff College, Bramshill in Hampshire. It was originally formed by the Home Office in 1998 to identify the potential emergence of serial killers and serial rapists at the earliest stage of their offending. This scope has since broadened to include the analysis by specialist staff of rapes, serious sexual assaults and motiveless or sexually motivated murders.

Criminal case files are received by SCAS from all police forces in the UK at an early stage in the investigations. The information is coded and placed on a single database, ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System). The system was developed in Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The investigating officer receives a report from a crime analyst with a number of key elements designed to assist the investigation. It will identify if there are grounds to believe that the offender has previously been identified. It will also provide a breakdown of the behaviour exhibited in the offence, often with a statistical description of some of the elements involved. This can alert an investigator to the importance of some aspects of the offence not immediately apparent. SCAS are also responsible for identifying good practice, or "what works", so the analyst's report may contain "investigative suggestions" that might guide the officer to a specific line of enquiry not yet considered. The report may also suggest possible suspects that the unit has identified from a number of databases. When a prime suspect has been identified and charged with an offence, senior analysts are able to provide specialist evidence in court, to assist with the prosecution of offenders.

Crime Operational Support

The Crime Operational Support unit also moved to SOCA, and provides specialist operational skills and to assist in the resolution of exceptional crime series and operational critical incidents.

Four regional teams of investigative advisers support regional investigations, and are themselves supported by the specialist skills of crime investigation officers, behavioural investigative advisers and geographic profilers. The unit identifies best practice in investigations, and makes these known through workshops and seminars.

Missing Persons Bureau

The Missing Persons Bureau (MPB) transferred to SOCA in April 2012 along with SCAS. It had previously been based at New Scotland Yard until April 2008 when it was moved to the NPIA and based in Bramshill.

The bureau acts as the centre for the exchange of information connected with the search for missing persons nationally and internationally. It is responsible for cross-matching missing persons with unidentified persons or bodies, as well as maintaining an index of dental records of missing persons and unidentified bodies.

The MPB also manages a missing persons and Child Rescue Alert website, and analyses data to identify trends and patterns in disappearances.

National Injuries Database

The National Injuries Database also transferred from the NPIA. It provides additional support to police forces by providing analysis of weapons and wounds, and seeking to identify similarities to aid investigators in determining which weapon may have been used. The database holds over 4,000 cases of suspicious deaths, murders and clinical cases, and contains over 20,000 images.

Money laundering

SOCA via the UK Financial Intelligence Unit took over responsibility for dealing with suspicious activity reports (SARs), previously made to the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) under the money laundering legislation.

NCIS received just under 200,000 SARs in 2005 and throughout its active life was widely critical of the banking and financial services sector, and the Financial Services Authority, for not being more transparent or forthcoming in reporting their customers suspicious activity.

Despite criticism from professional representative bodies that the disclosure rules are too broad, SOCA has said that up to one in three SARs lead to or add substantially to terrorism investigations; that HMRC estimates that around one in five SARs identifies new subjects of interest, and one in four SARs lead to direct tax enquiries; and that many arrests and confiscations of criminal assets.

The Assets Recovery Agency became part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency from April 2008. The power to launch civil recovery proceedings has been extended to the three main prosecutors in England and Wales; the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). It will also be extended to the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in Scotland.

Computer crime

Officers from the former National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) became SOCA's e-crime unit. However, the remit of this unit is much narrower than that of the body it replaced. In particular, the NHTCU had established a confidentiality charter to encourage victims of computer crime to contact the police in confidence, because many corporate victims in particular do not report attacks due to fears of bad publicity. The loss of the confidentiality charter has been widely criticised. although similar protection is now provided by the same Act of Parliament used to create SOCA. The Metropolitan Police is to help bridge the gap left by the disbandment of the NHTCU through an expansion of its Computer Unit and the formation of the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU), which will work closely with the new National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC) from 2009.

Website outages

The SOCA public information website, hosted by a third party, was subjected to a number of Distributed denial-of-service attack (DDOS) attacks. Hacker group LulzSec claimed responsibility for the attack on 20 June 2011, including a suggestion that the DDOS attack was a cover for real hacking.

See also

References

  1. Legislation.gov.uk
  2. "SOCA Opportunities". Serious Organised Crime Agency. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  3. "National Crime Agency - a plan for the creation of a national crime-fighting capability". Home Office. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  4. "Organised and international crime". Home Office. Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  5. Home Office (2005). Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 - Explanatory Notes. London: The Stationery Office. p. 5. ISBN 0-10-561505-6. Retrieved 12 August 2014. SOCA will be an intelligence-led organisation. Its core objective will be to reduce the harm caused by organised crime.
  6. "'British FBI' to have new powers". BBC News Online. BBC News. 11 January 2005. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  7. "Blair unveils plan for 'British FBI'". The Guardian. London. Press Association. 9 February 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  8. IPCC to oversee public complaints against SOCA
  9. FAQ's Serious and Organised Crime Website
  10. "National Crime Agency - Home". Soca.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  11. "National Crime Agency - Home". Soca.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  12. "National Crime Agency - Home". Soca.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  13. "National Crime Agency - Home". Soca.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  14. "National Crime Agency - Home". Soca.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  15. O'Neill, Sean (13 May 2008). "Soca abandons hunt for crime lords". London: Time Online. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  16. CEOP Academy
  17. Child Abuse Investigation Command – New Scotland Yard
  18. "Five specialist units from the NPIA join SOCA". Serious Organised Crime Agency. 1 April 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  19. "Another secretive European police working group revealed as governments remain tight-lipped on other police networks and the activities of Mark Kennedy". Statewatch News online. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  20. "Secrets of the crime analysts". BBC News. 29 April 2011.
  21. "National Crime Agency - Home". Soca.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  22. Proposed merger of the Assets Recovery Agency and the Serious Organised Crime Agency
  23. Bennett, Madeline (7 April 2006). "British FBI drops Confidentiality Charter for IT crime victims". IT Week. Retrieved 14 March 2007.
  24. Clayton, Richard (6 February 2006). "Mysterious and Menacing". Light Blue Touchpaper, Cambridge University security blog. Retrieved 14 March 2007.
  25. Government pledges funding for e-crime unit – 30 Sep 2008 – Computer Weekly
  26. "Soca attack: Serious Organised Crime Agency site taken down". BBC News. 3 May 2012.
  27. "Soca website shut down by cyber attack". Daily Telegraph. 3 May 2012.
  28. ^ "Soca website taken down after LulzSec 'Ddos attack'". BBC. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  29. Meyer, David (20 June 2011). "LulzSec claims Soca hack". ZDNet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  30. Henderson, Nicole (21 June 2011). "SOCA Website Back Online After LulzSec DDoS Attack". Web Host Industry Review. Retrieved 21 June 2011.

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