United Kingdom

The United Kingdom (UK), which is made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, does not have a national police force.  Instead, there are 44 independent forces in England and Wales, eight in Scotland and one force that covers Northern Ireland. There are plans to amalgamate the eight Scottish forces into a single one by 2014.

In England and Wales, police forces are accountable to the public through a ‘tripartite’ governance structure:

• The Home Secretary has overall responsibility for ensuring the delivery of an efficient and effective police service;
• Each force has a Police Authority. Police authorities consist of local councillors and independents who represent the community, set the strategic direction of the force and hold their Chief Officer to account;
• Chief Officers are responsible for the direction and control of their police force, independent of police authorities and the government. In England and Wales, Police and Crime Commissioners are directly elected by the public.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have similar governance structures.

INTERPOL London

The INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for the UK is part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), a law enforcement body with a national remit to fight organised crime. SOCA also provides a range of support services to police forces and other law enforcement bodies across the country, including the services provided by INTERPOL London.

Mission

To fight international crime, through the coordination and provision of specialist support to criminal investigations and humanitarian assistance.  Through INTERPOL channels, it aims to build effective partnerships between UK police forces and law enforcement agencies worldwide.

INTERPOL London is the point of contact for UK investigations with an international link. It provides UK agencies with a communications network linking them with law enforcement officials across the 188 INTERPOL member countries, as well as direct access to INTERPOL's databases and police services.

INTERPOL London staff deal with crime-related enquiries, translations and the coordination of international police action to locate UK fugitives abroad, and fugitives who are thought to have fled to the UK from elsewhere.

Structure

All queries from the INTERPOL community arrive at INTERPOL London’s “Gateway” Desk. This provides support to UK and foreign law enforcement 24 hours a day, dealing with urgent, threat-to-life and other critical incidents. Other messages are forwarded to specialist teams dealing with drugs, fraud and theft, offences against the person and fugitives matters.

Sub Bureaus

INTERPOL sub bureaus operating from the following UK Overseas Territories have delegated regional authority:

• Gibraltar;
• Bermuda;
• Cayman Islands;
• Anguilla;
• Montserrat;
• British Virgin Islands;
• Turks & Caicos.