UK Police Get £18m Cash Boost From Seized Assets

Home Office (UK)

Police and key agencies receive £18 million cash boost to fight crime

Police forces across England and Wales and front line agencies will today receive an £18 million cash boost from assets seized between 1 January and 31 March 2008. This is in addition to the £47 million they received in 2007/08.

Seizing criminal assets delivers a wide range of benefits including depriving criminals of capital and reducing the incentives for crime and the harm that crime causes.

Under the asset recovery scheme the Home Office gives 50 per cent of all assets recovered from criminals to front line agencies including the police. In Quarter 4 of 2007/08 the Home Office received a total of £36 million in recovered asset receipts.

Home Office Minister for Crime Reduction Vernon Coaker said:

"Asset recovery is critical in the fight against all levels of crime and is one of the Government's top priorities for law enforcement. Today I am giving back £18 million to police and other agencies to help in the fight against crime. I would like to thank the police and other agencies for their hard work in confiscating criminal assets and disrupting criminal gangs.

"In February 2008 I announced plans to give law enforcement agencies new powers. These include seizing high-value goods from offenders on arrest before they have a chance to disperse them, widening the kind of assets that are liable to civil recovery and removing the current 12 year limit within which civil recovery proceedings can be taken. We aim to include these measures in the forthcoming Policing and Crime Reduction Bill as part of the Government's legislative programme announced recently by the Prime Minister."

Mick Creedon, Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead on asset recovery, said:

"Police forces across the country are making more and more use of the powers to seize assets from criminals and we are seeing the impact this activity is having on crime reduction and community confidence. The public are tired of seeing criminals leading lavish lifestyles without challenge. All police forces are determined to respond to this and make full use of the available powers granted under the Proceeds of Crime Act and other legislation."

"Yet again the police performance has far outstripped the challenging targets set by the Home Office and this reflects the commitment of forces, teams and dedicated staff members. I'm pleased that a proportion of the recovered assets are returned to the agencies involved in this activity and that the police service has received another £5.7m out of the £18m available this quarter. All forces utilise this money to further develop their work in tackling crime. We continue to work closely with the Home Office and other asset recovery agencies to ensure that crime doesn't pay, and that the public see that it doesn't pay."

NOTES

1. Other agencies involved that will receive asset recovery money include:

* The HM Revenue and Customs (£2.6 million)

* The Serious Organised Crime Agency (£1 million)

* The Crown Prosecution Service (£2.7 million)

* HM Courts Service (£4.1 million)

* Others, including local authorities (£2 million)

2. Below is a regional breakdown of the incentive payments to the 43 police forces and British Transport Police. Police incentivisation scheme allocations based on performance from 1 January 2008 to 31 March 2008 and £5,730,516.27 million are available for distribution to police forces.

FORCE                          Police incentive
                               allocations for the period
                               01/01/2008 to 31/03/2008
Avon & Somerset Constabulary   £167,563.35
Bedfordshire Police            £40,533.92
British Transport Police       £28,290.98
Cambridgeshire Constabulary    £54,132.10
Cheshire Constabulary          £171,728.69
City of London Police          £13,394.99
Cleveland Police               £30,029.97
Cumbria Constabulary           £36,700.66
Derbyshire Constabulary        £87,966.94
Devon & Cornwall Constabulary  £43,518.38
Dorset Police                  £141,428.35
Durham Constabulary            £6,629.23
Dyfed-Powys Police             £62,050.57
Essex Police                   £3,242.05
Gloucestershire Constabulary   £27,281.28
Greater Manchester Police      £281,233.77
Gwent Police                   £32,884.74
Hampshire Constabulary         £138,130.50
Hertfordshire Constabulary     £76,820.90
Humberside Police              £119,016.83
Kent Police                    £305,176.04
Lancashire Constabulary        £154,499.70
Leicestershire Constabulary    £154,908.07
Lincolnshire Police            £14,242.03
Merseyside Police              £432,302.01
Metropolitan Police Service    £1,646,230.29
Norfolk Constabulary           £106,001.85
North Wales Police             £54,705.03
North Yorkshire Police         £38,302.90
Northamptonshire Police        £72,123.56
Northumbria Police             £144,751.89
Nottinghamshire Police         £41,916.48
South Wales Police             £160,717.77
South Yorkshire Police         £45,904.85
Staffordshire Police           £90,655.53
Suffolk Constabulary           £45,240.64
Surrey Police                  £107,409.77
Sussex Police                  £19,291.46
Thames Valley Police           £152,328.44
Warwickshire Police            £17,243.62
West Mercia Constabulary       £68,194.32
West Midlands Police           £143,271.41
West Yorkshire Police          £133,245.88
Wiltshire Constabulary         £19,274.53
TOTAL                          £5,730,516.27

Client ref 116-08
COI ref 162329P

ENDS

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