The not-for-profit Business Crime Intelligence Bureau (BCIB) is a private sector initiative headed up by managing director Amanda Oliver, who also champions the intelligence stream of the National Business Crime Forum.
For its part, the Bureau serves to link businesses with law enforcement agencies in the fight against crime, receiving and analysing intelligence on crimes perpetrated against UK businesses. It then provides specialist support in order to identify prolific offenders on a national basis in a bid to reduce criminal activity across the UK.
This new partnership will see the BCIB become the national intelligence ‘hub’ for the National Business Crime Solution (NBCS), in turn creating a fully-managed crime-fighting service in collaboration with bodies including ACPO.
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’s 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.
Value of retail and business crime partnerships
Commenting on the move, Nottinghamshire Police’s assistant chief constable Paul Broadbent said: “ACPO recognises the value of retail and business crime partnerships at all levels. It’s clear that individual pockets of data could be hugely enhanced if there was a greater willingness to share and exchange such data more widely.”
Historically, of course, individual crime-fighting 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,” enthused Broadbent, “and provide a more co-ordinated and consistent response to business crime at the national level. As part of such an approach, co-operation between retailers into a national data sharing hub would be encouraged.”
Now, 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.
The whole operation is ably supported by the BCIB’s unique Memorandum of Understanding signed with all 43 UK Police Regional Intelligence Units (RIUs).
Communications ‘bridge’ between business and the police
Also speaking about the new venture, Cardinal’s CEO Jason Trigg explained: “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 service.”
Trigg believes 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.
The BCIB’s Amanda Oliver stated: “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.”
