“British FBI”: UK to establish National Police Service

The United Kingdom is creating a new law enforcement agency — the National Police Service (NPS).

According to The Guardian, citing Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, the NPS will investigate the most serious crimes in England and Wales, including terrorism, organised crime, and large-scale fraud schemes.

The NPS will serve as the UK’s equivalent of the U.S. FBI, taking over functions currently handled by the National Crime Agency (NCA), regional police units, and Scotland Yard.

“We will create a new National Police Service – dubbed ‘the British FBI’ – deploying world-class talent and state-of-the-art technology to track down and catch dangerous criminals. In doing so, local forces will be able to spend more time fighting crime in their communities,” Mahmood said. She added that the current policing model is outdated and “built for a different century.”

The head of the NPS will become the highest-ranking police officer in the country and will be responsible for implementing technologies, including an automatic facial recognition system.

The creation of the new agency has been supported by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Scotland Yard, and its counterterrorism unit. NCA Director General Graeme Biggar commented: “Crime has changed, technology has changed, and how we respond needs to change [...] Such a body would enable us to improve how we protect the public, our communities and the country.”

By Vugar Khalilov