UK Policing’s Lead for Serious Organised Crime visits crime campus
Chief Constable Steve Jupp visited the Scottish Crime Campus recently.
L-R DCC Connors, Angela Constance MSP and Chief Constable Jupp
During his visit, the National Police Chief Council’s National Lead for Serious Organised Crime, met senior staff of the organisations represented at the multi-agency facility at Gartcosh – including the National Crime Agency, HMRC and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
He also attended meetings of the Multi-Agency Tasking and Delivery Board and the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, taking the opportunity to discuss the ongoing work to disrupt organised criminality across Scotland with Police Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors and the Scottish Government’s Justice Secretary, Angela Constance.
Chief Constable Jupp said:
“It was great to see the work the Serious and Organised Taskforce is leading on and how this is put into action at the Delivery Board.
“I was really impressed with the level of engagement and focus across the Taskforce and partners, which is demonstrated in the results that are being achieved. This is mirrored, throughout the Scottish Crime Campus, which is a great facility and model to protect the communities of Scotland.”
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said:
“I very much appreciated the opportunity to chair the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce at the Scottish Crime Campus and was particularly pleased with the new guidance that has been published to support the aim of protecting children and vulnerable adults from being exploited by criminals.
“Criminal exploitation of anyone, and particularly the vulnerable is truly abhorrent and can leave victims feeling trapped with nowhere to turn while experiencing violence, intimidation, and threats. This important new guidance brought forward by the Taskforce seeks to help end that cycle, giving people who work with children and vulnerable adults the confidence to act, enabling help to be more quickly delivered to those that need it.”
Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors QPM added:
“Police Scotland is committed to working in partnership with the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which plays an important role in continuing to disrupt the activities of those involved in this type of criminality and making Scotland a hostile environment for them to operate.”
The Serious Organised Crime (SOC) Taskforce is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and includes the Chief Constable, the Lord Advocate and representatives from a range of agencies including the National Crime Agency, HMRC, Border Force, Scottish Prison Service, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, CoSLA, SOLACE, NHS and from the third and private sectors.
The SOC Taskforce oversees implementation of Scotland’s SOC Strategy with the aim of disrupting serious organised crime and reduce the harm it causes.
