The ACPOS member of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce is the Champion responsible for driving forward the Detect strand of the Strategy.
Detect - by boosting capacity and improving co-ordination to give serious organised criminals no place to hide. We are working with the police to improve the gathering and sharing of intelligence across Scotland and more widely, improving the use of analysis, joint tactical tasking and co-ordination and ensuring the SCDEA capacity increase is successfully implemented by the following actions:
- Boost capacity in intelligence analysis, forensic accounting, e-crime and technical support;
- Collect, analyse and co-ordinate intelligence more effectively, by creating a permanent Serious Organised Crime Mapping team;
- Create a new collective process to use intelligence to drive action;
- Create means to scan the environment for emerging threats; and
- Attract and retain good analysts by reviewing the skills, training, pay and career structure.
Examples of Detect
Scottish Intelligence and Co-ordination Unit
A new intelligence unit (SICU) based within the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency has been set up to help improve the coordination of analysis of information and intelligence and link into the regional intelligence units being established in England and Wales and into wider European information sharing initiatives.
The Unit will allow the Serious Organised Crime Mapping Project to be mainstreamed to ensure further refinement of the picture of serious organised crime to allow it to become the bedrock of the tasking and co-ordination across Scotland, both nationally and within forces. The number of analysts at SCDEA has been significantly boosted to carry out the analytical work to support both the mapping project and the development of the Scottish Strategic Assessment.
The SICU will effectively act as a 'brain' at the centre of Scottish law enforcement, learning more about serious organised crime but as it does so, building knowledge on the most effective ways to prevent, detect and dismantle it. It will generate an A to Z of organised crime groups, the hubs they operate out of, and the networks they use. The experts working within the SICU will use that information to explain how they function and how they try to evade the law.
The aim of the SICU is clear - to paint a far more detailed picture of serious organised crime than ever before and share it with law enforcement partners.
National e-Crime Strategy
The e-crime Strategy for Scotland has now been endorsed by the ACPOS Crime Business Area. The objective of the Strategy is to ensure a consistent tiered approach to the investigation of e-crime across Scotland. The introduction of the Strategy has been driven by the recommendations from a recent e-crime Capacity and Capability Study of Scottish forces response to e-crime. An action plan is now in place for the delivery of these recommendations.
In furtherance of a consistent tiered approach to the investigation of e-crime across Scotland, a Digital Forensic Practitioners seminar was facilitated at the Scottish Police College in February 2011. The seminar, which was attended by 52 delegates from all Scottish Forces, focused on future threats, investigative strategies and available tools and techniques.
Human Trafficking
Work is currently ongoing to produce the Human Trafficking strategic assessment. In addition, the SICU Human Trafficking Co-ordination Unit has devised a series of presentations for partners in respect of the threat of Human Trafficking in Scotland. These presentations are designed to improve awareness and understanding of this threat whilst enhancing intelligence gathering opportunities. To date presentations have been delivered to Waverley Care, Edinburgh Social Workers, the Edinburgh Association of University Graduates and the Child Protection Committee Chairs Forum.