The UK’s policing thinktank The Police Foundation published a report this week on the need for policing reform to address fraud and scams. The report draws from insights gathered from a survey of 250 police officers and staff, as well as interviews with stakeholders including the Home Office, National Crime Agency, City of London Police.
Overall, notable stats include that nearly 90% of police respondents felt that they didn’t have enough resources to deal with fraud and that only 0.64% of the total police workforce are in economic crime roles. Furthermore, more than half of respondents did not believe that police officers had enough skills to investigate fraud.
The report sets out that police response to fraud is hampered by a predominantly local response to what is essentially a cross-border crime, and that although there is a vast amount of data and intelligence, improvements are needed in data sharing to generate sufficient insights to act.
The report overall calls for a public health approach to fraud along with key organisational changes including setting up new national bodies such as a national Crime Prevention Agency, a National Anti-Fraud Data Centre and a new national body specifically dedicated to overseeing fraud. It also calls for ring-fenced funding from the next two Spending Reviews for investment in fraud, cyber and economic crime capabilities.
Read the rerport here.