| 08 August 2012
The National Business Crime Solution (NBCS) is embarking on a joint venture with the Business Crime Intelligence Bureau (BCIB) in a bid to tackle business crime throughout the UK.
The not-for-profit BCIB is a private sector initiative, headed up by Amanda Oliver that links businesses with law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime. It receives and analyses crime intelligence perpetrated against UK businesses and provides specialist support in order to identify national prolific offenders in a bid to reduce criminal activity across the UK. Amanda Oliver also Champions the Intelligence stream of the National Business Crime Forum (NBCF).
The partnership will see the BCIB work as the national intelligence hub for the NBCS in order to provide a full-managed service working in collaboration with public centre authorities including ACPO.
Paul Broadbent, Assistant Chief Constable, Crime, Justice & Protective Services said: “ACPO recognises the value of retail and business crime partnerships at all levels. It is clear that these individual pockets of data could be hugely enhanced if there was a greater willingness to share and exchange this data more widely.
ACC Broadbent added: Historically individual partnerships and business sectors have not always exchanged data and as a result this has had a limiting effect on its possible value and impact. The possibility of a not for profit hub that sees separate partnerships and intelligence sharing bodies feeding this data into a common hub would greatly enhance the value of such data and provide a more coordinated and consistent response to business crime nationally. As part of such an approach, cooperation between retailers into a national data sharing hub would be encouraged”.
The BCIB’s Police trained analysts will analyse data from the Police and the National Business Crime Solution and disseminate information to businesses for both prevention and law enforcement purposes. It is supported by the BCIB’s unique memorandum of understanding (MoU) with all 43 UK Police Regional Intelligence Units (RIUs).
The National Business Crime Solution is a centralised operating model – powered by The Cardinal Group – that facilitates the sharing of information among businesses nationwide. Designed as an operating model, it is underpinned by a live information and intelligence-sharing platform and is already widely used to tackle retail crime in the USA – LERPnet for Retail, CargoNet for Logistics, and Plant and Machinery. Registered businesses enter business crime data into the system and this information is then collated, analysed and disseminated to other participating business members locally, regionally, nationally or by sector.
Speaking about the venture, Cardinal’s CEO, Jason Trigg said: “Working with the Business Crime Intelligence Bureau is a logical partnership for the NBCS. The BCIB has a unique relationship with Police Regional Intelligence Units and is in a great position to create the communications ‘bridge’ between businesses and the Police. The partnership between the NBCS and the BCIB will set the standard for the future of business crime intelligence sharing through the effective communication of insights, as well as data, at all levels across the UK.”
Whilst Amanda Oliver, Managing Director of the Business Crime Intelligence Bureau, added: “Gaining access to the additional data available via the National Business Crime Solution will enable us to continue building awareness of criminal hot spots and trends around the country. Using the BCIB’s Police trained analysts to monitor activity at a national level and by sector will ensure we can continue to support the authorities and have a major impact on serious cross-border organised crime.