‘British FBI’ national police to fight complex crimes

In this file photo, British police officers stand facing a residential property in Amesbury, England, Wednesday, July 4, 2018.

The U.K. will establish a national police force, dubbed the “British FBI”, to tackle the most complex and serious crimes, the government said on Saturday.

The new National Police Service (NPS) will bring the work of an array of existing agencies scattered nationwide, including the National Crime Agency (NCA) and regional organized crime units, under the same organisation.

The government says the reform will lift the burden on local police forces, who it says are diverting time and resources away from everyday policing, such as tackling shoplifting and antisocial behaviour.

“Some local forces lack the skills or resources they need to fight complex modern crime such as fraud, online child abuse or organized criminal gangs,” said interior minister Shabana Mahmood.

“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,” she added.

“In doing so, local forces will be able to spend more time fighting crime in their communities.”

‘Spaghetti system’

The NPS will be led by a National Police Commissioner who will become the most senior police officer in the country.

The head of London’s Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, earlier this month voiced his support for “overdue big police reforms”.

“If you’ve got an overly bureaucratic, complicated, convoluted sort of spaghetti system, all of that complexity sucks resources away from the locals,” he told Sky News.

“If we sort out all the national arrangements, our ability to counter national and international threats improves.”

The announcement is one of several changes, billed by the interior ministry “as the largest reforms to policing since the police service was founded two centuries ago”.

On Friday the U.K. government vowed to take back the power to sack police chiefs after a row surrounding a ban on fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv attending a Birmingham football match.

West Midlands chief constable Craig Guildford retired following public pressure to step down over that controversy. Mahmood had complained she lacked the power to sack him.