In the United Kingdom, the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) was set up as a separate body in April 1992 to centralise the gathering and distribution of intelligence on serious and organised criminal matters. NCIS was formed out of the National Drugs Intelligence Unit in the Home Office: following the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2001 , NCIS returned to direct funding by the Home Office in 2002 and is now a non-departmental public body. In 2004, the Home Secretary announced that NCIS will form part of the proposed Serious Organised Crime Agency.
NCIS provides the intelligence back-up to other agencies, such as the National Crime Squad, and concentrates on drugs, financial crime, immigration, firearms, organised crime and terrorism. Internationally, NCIS liases with Interpol and Europol, and other international law enforcement networks.
Under section 2 of the Police Act 1997 , the functions of NCIS are:
- to gather, store and analyse information in order to provide criminal intelligence;
- to provide criminal intelligence to police forces in Great Britain, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the National Crime Squad and other law enforcement agencies; and
- to act in support of such police forces, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the National Crime Squad and other law enforcement agencies carrying out their criminal intelligence activities.
Money laundering reports are made to NCIS. The disclosure criteria were expanded by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 , and NCIS received around 100,000 disclosures in 2003, 60 per cent more that 2002 and over triple the number in 2001.
NCIS employs staff directly, but also seconds staff from over 25 partner agencies such as the police, HM Customs and Excise, HM Immigration Service , the Inland Revenue, the UK Passport Agency , the Medicines Control Agency , and the Financial Services Authority
NCIS has its headquarters in London, with five regional offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and Wakefield, and a satellite office in Belfast.
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