Background
The creation of the agency was announced on 9 February 2004 as one of the elements of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which also restricts protests and demonstrations in central London, and alters powers of arrest and the use of search warrants. According to Home Office figures organised crime costs the UK around £ 20 billion each year, with some estimates putting the figure as high as £40 billion.
SOCA has a national remit and the role of the agency is to support individual Police forces in the investigation of crime and conduct independent investigations with regard to serious organised crime. SOCA is an agency which has the role of "reducing harm", not specifically the arrest and conviction of offenders.
Elements of the media have attempted to draw parallels between the organisation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States: indeed, parts of the press have labelled SOCA the "British FBI."
SOCA is subject to similar internal and external governance mechanisms as the police service. The SOCA Professional Standards Department is responsible for receiving, investigating and monitoring the progress of public complaints about the misconduct of SOCA officers. Serious complaints regarding SOCA are dealt with by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The IPCC will decide the appropriate method of investigation. In general terms, the IPCC will handle complaints against SOCA officers in the same manner as complaints against police officers or officers of HMRC. The Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI) deals with complaints in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, this is the responsibility of the Lord Advocate. There is also be a bespoke inspection regime for SOCA, provided through Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
Read more about this topic: Serious Organised Crime Agency
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