National Policing Improvement Agency
Encyclopedia
The United Kingdom's National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is a non-departmental public body
established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment.
(PITO), Centrex
(including the National Centre for Policing Excellence), and a small number of Home Office
staff. PITO and Centrex were both abolished when the NPIA became operational, and has formal responsibilities for police forces in England and Wales but, unlike PITO, not for the eight Scottish forces.
The NPIA was proposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers
(England & Wales) as a response to the UK Government's green paper Building Safer Communities Together. The stated objective of the NPIA is to support i) the delivery of more effective policing and ii) a culture of self-improvement around policing in the United Kingdom
. Unlike PITO, it is not solely a supplier of national police IT systems.
The key priorities of the NPIA are set by the National Policing Board, established in July 2006 to help strengthen the governance of policing in England and Wales. The National Policing Board, chaired by the Home Secretary, has a tripartite membership from the Home Office, ACPO and the APA.
The motivations for creating the NPIA were laid out in the 2004 Police Reform white paper Building Communities, Beating Crime which stated: "...the mechanisms for national policing improvements are disparate and overlapping." Additionally, in 2004 Hazel Blears
commissioned an End-to-End Review of PITO which concluded that "The tripartite governance structure is inappropriate for efficiently and effectively delivering services" and that "PITO as a concept is fundamentally flawed".
Chief Constable Peter Neyroud
was the Agency's first Chief Executive. He retired from the police service in December 2010 after submitting an independent review of police training and leadership to the Home Secretary. Deputy Chief Executive Nick Gargan was temporarily promoted to Chief Constable
in September that year, when Neyroud started his independent review and remains the Agency's second Chief Executive.
Peter Holland DL was appointed as the first chair of the NPIA in September 2006 and was extended in his role as chair by the Home Secretary in late 2010, when Neyroud announced his retirement.
Upon formation in April 2007, the estimated staff of the NPIA was 1772, and the expected income for 2007-08 was £484m .
The NPIA had a number of challenges to meet, the implementation of the Bichard Inquiry after the Soham Murders
and the McFarland Report regarding Police IT and PITO, made the development, implementation and standardisation of new police technologies a major national priority. The development of doctrine and policy in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers
(ACPO), encouraging a national police strategy in terms of purchasing of equipment and bringing about universal police standards in areas such as training, development and leadership were all fundamental priorities and objectives of the agency. The HMIC Report 'Closing the Gap' recommended closer working and partnerships especially in strategic areas such as protective service, and the first trial Collaboration Demonstration Sites were announced by the
Home Office
.
In 2007, Peter Neyroud said that by creating a consensus with police forces and having some powers to mandate IT strategy over police forces, the agency would succeed where PITO (Police Information Technology Organisation) had failed.
"The failure of PITO stemmed from an absence of space where objectives could be agreed with the National Policing Board. By working with the Association of Chief Police Officers
(ACPO) and the Association of Police Authorities (APA), we are much more a part of police forces"
The Agency was the subject of critical comment (externally and internally) as a consequence of high levels of staff turnover and the results of a damaging staff survey in the first year of its operation, which revealed high levels of staff dissatisfaction on a range of issues. Difficulties with recruitment and retention necessitated high levels of expenditure on contractors and private sector consultants to maintain service provision in some business units.
However, despite all this, the NPIA will be abolished in mid-2012 and - as at October 2011 - there are no plans for many of its functions to be taken over by other bodies, or even to continue at all, for example, strategies for national police training. Specialised police training such as the Advanced Public Order Commander course will cease unless an alternative is found, an astonishing situation given that national Public Order command training was heavily criticised following widespread public disorder in many English cities in July 2011.
Strategy 'ISS4PS', which calls on the police service to work together to adopt common standards, products and services.
The NPIA provides the following functions at a national level -
, Bramshill
in Hampshire
is made up of crime analysts and specialist police
staff who analyse crime under specific criteria - essentially rape
and serious sexual assaults and motiveless or sexually motivated murder
cases.
The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) was initiated by the Home Office
in 1998 with one main objective - to identify the potential emergence of serial killers and serial rapists at the earliest stage of their offending. Whilst this objective remains at the heart of SCAS remit, far more services have been developed for investigators of serious crime, with other services continually under development.
SCAS receive crime case files at an early stage in their investigation from all forces in the UK (including Scotland and the PSNI) through a network of contact officers employed in intelligence
departments in every force.
In order to carry out this difficult and complex casework, all information is coded and placed onto one single database - ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System). This system was developed in Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
. The coding of criminal behaviour is a painstaking process and is carried out by highly trained Assistant Crime Analysts at SCAS.
The investigating officer receives a report from a crime analyst with a number of key elements designed to assist the investigation. It will identify if there are grounds to believe that the offender has previously been identified. It will also provide a breakdown of the behaviour exhibited in the offence, often with a statistical description of some of the elements involved. This can alert an investigator to the importance of some aspects of the offence not immediately apparent.
SCAS are also responsible for identifying good practice, or "what works", so the analyst's report may contain "investigative suggestions" that might guide the officer to a specific line of enquiry not yet considered. The report may also suggest possible suspects that the unit has identified from a number of databases.
When a prime suspect has been identified and charged with an offence, senior analysts are able to provide specialist evidence in court
, to assist with the prosecution of offenders.
There are four regional teams of investigative advisers support regional investigations. These teams are supported with the specialist skills of crime investigation officers, behavioural investigative advisers and geographic profilers. In addition Crime Operational Support ensures that all relevant good practice in serious crime investigation is identified and disseminated.
Crime Operational Support can also provide assistance with case study workshops and seminars. Case study workshops have proved a valued tool in providing Senior Investigating Officers with ideas for progressing enquiries. At both national and regional seminars are held offering an opportunity for the continuous professional
development of SIOs.
Crime Operational Support Advidors include:
Section and is a national resource to support serious crime investigations for the analysis of weapons and wounds.
It is mainly victim focused and can search for cases to identify possible similarities between a victim's wound/s and specific injury patterns and/or possible weapons. This is particularly useful for an investigation team in cases where the nature of the injuries are unknown and the weapon has not been identified. The database
currently holds over 4,000 cases of suspicious deaths, homicides and clinical cases. It also has more than 20,000 image
s.
Medical, forensic, scientific and police reports combined with photographs, x-rays and videos
provide information for the NID. It is anticipated that future developments will allow the NID to be linked into the national pathology
system to increase the size and breadth of the data
.
Services that are available through the NID include:
in April 2008 to sit within the NPIA at Bramshill
.
The PNMPB acts as the centre for the exchange of information connected with the search for missing persons nationally and internationally.
This specialist unit focuses on cross matching missing persons with unidentified persons/bodies. Other key activities include:
Further developments will include:
courses at four core sites:
From April 2008 the Asset Recovery Agency will become part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency
and the ARA Centre of Excellence, which trains and accredits Financial Investigators, will be moved to the National Policing Improvement Agency.
Programmes are managed by the NPIA, as an extension of the role of the former Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), some parts (but not all) of which it subsumed:
The Facial Images National Database
(FIND) project, and a project to deliver a national case management system for child abuse investigations, were cancelled in early 2008 due to budget pressures.
Non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, a non-departmental public body —often referred to as a quango—is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive to certain types of public bodies...
established to support police by providing expertise in such areas as information technology, information sharing, and recruitment.
Background
The National Policing Improvement Agency became operational on 1 April 2007. The agency took over the work of several precursor agencies including the Police Information Technology OrganisationPolice Information Technology Organisation
-History:The UK government Police National Computer project was evolved in the early 1970s, and was launched in 1974 with Stolen Vehicles as its initial database....
(PITO), Centrex
Centrex (police training agency)
Centrex, the common name of the Central Police Training and Development Authority , was established under Part 4 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, and was the primary means of police training in England and Wales. It was based at Bramshill House, formerly known as the Police Staff...
(including the National Centre for Policing Excellence), and a small number of Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
staff. PITO and Centrex were both abolished when the NPIA became operational, and has formal responsibilities for police forces in England and Wales but, unlike PITO, not for the eight Scottish forces.
The NPIA was proposed by the Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
(England & Wales) as a response to the UK Government's green paper Building Safer Communities Together. The stated objective of the NPIA is to support i) the delivery of more effective policing and ii) a culture of self-improvement around policing in the United Kingdom
Policing in the United Kingdom
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland ....
. Unlike PITO, it is not solely a supplier of national police IT systems.
The key priorities of the NPIA are set by the National Policing Board, established in July 2006 to help strengthen the governance of policing in England and Wales. The National Policing Board, chaired by the Home Secretary, has a tripartite membership from the Home Office, ACPO and the APA.
The motivations for creating the NPIA were laid out in the 2004 Police Reform white paper Building Communities, Beating Crime which stated: "...the mechanisms for national policing improvements are disparate and overlapping." Additionally, in 2004 Hazel Blears
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles since 2010 and was previously the MP for Salford since 1997...
commissioned an End-to-End Review of PITO which concluded that "The tripartite governance structure is inappropriate for efficiently and effectively delivering services" and that "PITO as a concept is fundamentally flawed".
Chief Constable Peter Neyroud
Peter Neyroud
Peter Neyroud CBE QPM is a retired British police officer. He was the Chief Executive Officer for the National Policing Improvement Agency , and former Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police. He from the NPIA in March 2010....
was the Agency's first Chief Executive. He retired from the police service in December 2010 after submitting an independent review of police training and leadership to the Home Secretary. Deputy Chief Executive Nick Gargan was temporarily promoted to Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
in September that year, when Neyroud started his independent review and remains the Agency's second Chief Executive.
Peter Holland DL was appointed as the first chair of the NPIA in September 2006 and was extended in his role as chair by the Home Secretary in late 2010, when Neyroud announced his retirement.
Upon formation in April 2007, the estimated staff of the NPIA was 1772, and the expected income for 2007-08 was £484m .
The NPIA had a number of challenges to meet, the implementation of the Bichard Inquiry after the Soham Murders
Soham murders
The Soham murders was an English murder case in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire.The victims were Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman...
and the McFarland Report regarding Police IT and PITO, made the development, implementation and standardisation of new police technologies a major national priority. The development of doctrine and policy in conjunction with the Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
(ACPO), encouraging a national police strategy in terms of purchasing of equipment and bringing about universal police standards in areas such as training, development and leadership were all fundamental priorities and objectives of the agency. The HMIC Report 'Closing the Gap' recommended closer working and partnerships especially in strategic areas such as protective service, and the first trial Collaboration Demonstration Sites were announced by the
Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
.
In 2007, Peter Neyroud said that by creating a consensus with police forces and having some powers to mandate IT strategy over police forces, the agency would succeed where PITO (Police Information Technology Organisation) had failed.
"The failure of PITO stemmed from an absence of space where objectives could be agreed with the National Policing Board. By working with the Association of Chief Police Officers
Association of Chief Police Officers
The Association of Chief Police Officers , established in 1948, is a private limited company that leads the development of policing practice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.ACPO provides a forum for chief police officers to share ideas and coordinates the strategic...
(ACPO) and the Association of Police Authorities (APA), we are much more a part of police forces"
The Agency was the subject of critical comment (externally and internally) as a consequence of high levels of staff turnover and the results of a damaging staff survey in the first year of its operation, which revealed high levels of staff dissatisfaction on a range of issues. Difficulties with recruitment and retention necessitated high levels of expenditure on contractors and private sector consultants to maintain service provision in some business units.
However, despite all this, the NPIA will be abolished in mid-2012 and - as at October 2011 - there are no plans for many of its functions to be taken over by other bodies, or even to continue at all, for example, strategies for national police training. Specialised police training such as the Advanced Public Order Commander course will cease unless an alternative is found, an astonishing situation given that national Public Order command training was heavily criticised following widespread public disorder in many English cities in July 2011.
Objectives of the NPIA
To achieve its objectives, the NPIA co-ordinates organisational change across policy, processes, staff and technology both at national programme level and also with the county Forces. For Police information technology, the NPIA builds upon ACPO's Information SystemsInformation systems
Information Systems is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study...
Strategy 'ISS4PS', which calls on the police service to work together to adopt common standards, products and services.
The NPIA provides the following functions at a national level -
- National information systems such as the Police National ComputerPolice National ComputerThe Police National Computer is a computer system used extensively by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom. It went live in 1974 and now consists of several databases available 24 hours a day, giving access to information of national and local significance.From October 2009, the...
, National DNA DatabaseNational DNA databaseA national DNA database is a government database of DNA profiles which can be used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects of crimes....
and IDENT1IDENT1IDENT1 is the United Kingdom's central national database for holding, searching and comparing biometric information on those who come into contact with the police as detainees after being arrested...
, the national fingerprintFingerprintA fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
and palm print system
- Specialist training for high-tech crime, forensicsForensicsForensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...
and major investigations
- Clear and secure voice communication through the Airwave (communications network)Airwave (communications network)The Airwave network is a mobile communications network dedicated for the use by the emergency services in the United Kingdom. Designed to be both secure and resilient it allows multiple agencies integrated communications through a nationwide network. It is a secure digital, encrypted network and...
service
- Round the clock specialist operational policing advice to guide forces through murder investigations, public order events, major incidents and searches
- National development programmes to nurture the next generation of police officers at all levels from PC to the senior ranks.
Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS)
The Serious Crime Analysis Section, based at Foxley Hall in the grounds of the Police Staff CollegePolice Staff College, Bramshill
The Police Staff College, Bramshill, Bramshill House, Bramshill, Hook, Hampshire, England, is the principal police staff training establishment in the United Kingdom....
, Bramshill
Bramshill
Bramshill is a civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. Its name has become synonymous with the Police Staff College, Bramshill located in Bramshill House. Bramshill forms part of the district of Hart...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
is made up of crime analysts and specialist police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
staff who analyse crime under specific criteria - essentially rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and serious sexual assaults and motiveless or sexually motivated murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
cases.
The Serious Crime Analysis Section (SCAS) was initiated by the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
in 1998 with one main objective - to identify the potential emergence of serial killers and serial rapists at the earliest stage of their offending. Whilst this objective remains at the heart of SCAS remit, far more services have been developed for investigators of serious crime, with other services continually under development.
SCAS receive crime case files at an early stage in their investigation from all forces in the UK (including Scotland and the PSNI) through a network of contact officers employed in intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
departments in every force.
In order to carry out this difficult and complex casework, all information is coded and placed onto one single database - ViCLAS (Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System). This system was developed in Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
. The coding of criminal behaviour is a painstaking process and is carried out by highly trained Assistant Crime Analysts at SCAS.
The investigating officer receives a report from a crime analyst with a number of key elements designed to assist the investigation. It will identify if there are grounds to believe that the offender has previously been identified. It will also provide a breakdown of the behaviour exhibited in the offence, often with a statistical description of some of the elements involved. This can alert an investigator to the importance of some aspects of the offence not immediately apparent.
SCAS are also responsible for identifying good practice, or "what works", so the analyst's report may contain "investigative suggestions" that might guide the officer to a specific line of enquiry not yet considered. The report may also suggest possible suspects that the unit has identified from a number of databases.
When a prime suspect has been identified and charged with an offence, senior analysts are able to provide specialist evidence in court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
, to assist with the prosecution of offenders.
Crime Operational Support
Crime Operational Support aims to support the police service through provision of specialist operational skills and to assist in the resolution of exceptional crime series and operational critical incidents.There are four regional teams of investigative advisers support regional investigations. These teams are supported with the specialist skills of crime investigation officers, behavioural investigative advisers and geographic profilers. In addition Crime Operational Support ensures that all relevant good practice in serious crime investigation is identified and disseminated.
Crime Operational Support can also provide assistance with case study workshops and seminars. Case study workshops have proved a valued tool in providing Senior Investigating Officers with ideas for progressing enquiries. At both national and regional seminars are held offering an opportunity for the continuous professional
Professional
A professional is a person who is paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete them for a fee. The traditional professions were doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned military officers. Today, the term is applied to estate agents, surveyors , environmental scientists,...
development of SIOs.
Crime Operational Support Advidors include:
- Regional Advisers and Crime Investigation Support Officers (CISOs)
- National Search, Interview and Family Liaison Advisers
- Behavioural Investigative Advisers
- Geographic Profiler
- Physical Evidence Section
- The National Injuries Database
National Injuries Database
The National Injuries Database is part of the Physical EvidenceEvidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
Section and is a national resource to support serious crime investigations for the analysis of weapons and wounds.
It is mainly victim focused and can search for cases to identify possible similarities between a victim's wound/s and specific injury patterns and/or possible weapons. This is particularly useful for an investigation team in cases where the nature of the injuries are unknown and the weapon has not been identified. The database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
currently holds over 4,000 cases of suspicious deaths, homicides and clinical cases. It also has more than 20,000 image
Image
An image is an artifact, for example a two-dimensional picture, that has a similar appearance to some subject—usually a physical object or a person.-Characteristics:...
s.
Medical, forensic, scientific and police reports combined with photographs, x-rays and videos
Motion graphics
Motion graphics are graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, graphics are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects. Motion graphics are usually displayed via electronic media technology, but may be displayed via...
provide information for the NID. It is anticipated that future developments will allow the NID to be linked into the national pathology
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
system to increase the size and breadth of the data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
.
Services that are available through the NID include:
- The Serious, SexualSexual assaultSexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
Assault and Attempted Murders Database. This is linked to the NID allowing comparisons of injuries to be made between live and dead victims.
- The Comparison Programme. This can display photographs from up to four cases simultaneously on one screen. This can be useful for the identification of a potential series.
- To support and coordinate, with an independent image consultant, the technique of digital superimposition/image overlay used to compare weapon images with wound patterns. This has frequently been used for potential footwear impressions on skin.
- To facilitate and support the provision of second opinion and cold case review work. A wealth of expertise has been generated through close working relationships with Home OfficeHome OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
pathologists and other medical experts.
Police National Missing Persons Bureau (PNMPB)
The Police National Missing Persons Bureau will be moved from New Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
in April 2008 to sit within the NPIA at Bramshill
Bramshill
Bramshill is a civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. Its name has become synonymous with the Police Staff College, Bramshill located in Bramshill House. Bramshill forms part of the district of Hart...
.
The PNMPB acts as the centre for the exchange of information connected with the search for missing persons nationally and internationally.
This specialist unit focuses on cross matching missing persons with unidentified persons/bodies. Other key activities include:
- Maintaining records of missing persons and unidentified persons/bodies
- Maintaining a dental index of ante-mortem chartings of long term missing persons and post-mortem chartings from unidentified bodies
- Managing a missing persons and Child Rescue Alert website
- While these services will continue under NPIA, the investigative support service will be significantly enhanced to ensure that missing person investigations and reviews receive access to specialist in-house advice whenever needed.
- Sitting alongside the Serious Crime Analysis Section, the bureau will provide tactical analytical support to inquiries and produce strategic assessments of the missing person phenomenon in the UK.
Further developments will include:
- Carrying out analysis of data, identifying trends, patterns of disappearance and developing the potential capability to produce strategic and tactical assessments
- Reviewing the current state of unidentified bodies within forces and encouraging forensic reviews where possible
- Raising missing persons awareness
- Developing policy and best practice
Training
The NPIA offers trainingTraining
The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of...
courses at four core sites:
- Bramshill Leadership Academy is home to the European Police CollegeEuropean Police CollegeCEPOL - European Police College was established as an agency of the European Union in 2005 . CEPOL brings together senior police officers across Europe with the aim to encourage cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, maintenance of public security and law and order...
Secretariat known as CEPOL, International Police Leadership Programmes and programmes related to the development of future police leaders and management within the UK Police Services. - Wyboston in BedfordshireBedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, is home to Specialist Hi-Tech Police Training including e-crime, e- forensics, covert crime and training using Hydra and Minerva immersiveImmersion (virtual reality)Immersion is the state of consciousness where an immersant's awareness of physical self is diminished or lost by being surrounded in an engrossing total environment; often artificial. This mental state is frequently accompanied with spatial excess, intense focus, a distorted sense of time, and...
simulators to construct major crime managementManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
scenarios and events in real time. - Harperley Hall near CrookCrook, County DurhamCrook is a market town in County Durham, England. It is situated about 10 miles south-west of Durham.Crook lies a couple of miles north of the River Wear, on the A690 from Durham...
in County DurhamCounty DurhamCounty Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, is the NPIA's specialist forensic training facility and has just undergone a £10 million upgrade. - Ryton on Dunsmore - Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Training (CBRN) is carried out at the Police National CBRNCBRNCBRN is an initialism for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear. It is used to refer to situations in which any of these four hazards have presented themselves. The term CBRN is a replacement for the cold war term NBC , which had replaced the term ABC that was used in the fifties...
Centre at Winterbourne GunnerWinterbourne GunnerWinterbourne Gunner is a small village in the UK but seems larger, as it joins on to Winterbourne Dauntsey, which itself is joined on to Winterbourne Earls. It is located in Wiltshire in England about five miles northeast of Salisbury situated on the A338. The Defence CBRN Centre is located to the...
in WiltshireWiltshireWiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, in conjunction with the CBRN HQ at the NPIA's Ryton on Dunsmore Facility, which is also an operational training base and the HQ for ACPO's Vehicle and Truck Crime Initiatives.
From April 2008 the Asset Recovery Agency will become part of the Serious Organised Crime Agency
Serious Organised Crime Agency
The Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom under Home Office sponsorship...
and the ARA Centre of Excellence, which trains and accredits Financial Investigators, will be moved to the National Policing Improvement Agency.
Technology
The Following Police TechnologyTechnology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
Programmes are managed by the NPIA, as an extension of the role of the former Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), some parts (but not all) of which it subsumed:
- Airwave (communications network)Airwave (communications network)The Airwave network is a mobile communications network dedicated for the use by the emergency services in the United Kingdom. Designed to be both secure and resilient it allows multiple agencies integrated communications through a nationwide network. It is a secure digital, encrypted network and...
- AirwaveSpeak
- Corporate Data Model (CorDM) and Corporate XML (CorXML) for the Police Service
- HOLMES2HOLMES2HOLMES 2 is an Information Technology system that is predominantly used by UK Police forces for the investigation of major incidents such as serial murders and multi-million pound frauds....
and CasWeb
- IDENT1IDENT1IDENT1 is the United Kingdom's central national database for holding, searching and comparing biometric information on those who come into contact with the police as detainees after being arrested...
- Identity Access Management (IAM)
- Impact Nominal IndexImpact Nominal IndexThe Impact Nominal Index or INI is a computer system that enables UK police forces to establish whether any other force holds information on a person of interest...
- Information Systems Strategy for the Police Service (ISS4PS)
- Lantern
- Mobile Information
- National Firearms Licensing Management System (NFLMS)
- National Management Information System (NMIS)
- National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) - Browser Access
- National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) - Command and Control (CnC)
- National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) - Custody and Case Preparation Programme
- National Strategy for Police Information Systems (NSPIS) - Human Resources (HR)
- National Video Identification Strategy (NVIS)
- PentiP - Penalty Notice Processing
- PNN - Police National Network
- Police National ComputerPolice National ComputerThe Police National Computer is a computer system used extensively by law enforcement organisations across the United Kingdom. It went live in 1974 and now consists of several databases available 24 hours a day, giving access to information of national and local significance.From October 2009, the...
(PNC)
- The Vehicle Procedures and Fixed Penalty Office (VP/FPO) system
- ViSOR - Dangerous Persons DatabaseViolent and Sex Offender RegisterIn the United Kingdom, the Violent and Sex Offender Register is a database of records of those required to register with the Police under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, those jailed for more than 12 months for violent offences, and unconvicted people simply thought to be at risk of offending...
The Facial Images National Database
Facial Images National Database
The Facial Images National Database was a project managed by the National Policing Improvement Agency. The database was a collection of mugshots both from still and from video image sources. It was also designed to keep track of scars, tattoos, and similar markings on persons within the database...
(FIND) project, and a project to deliver a national case management system for child abuse investigations, were cancelled in early 2008 due to budget pressures.
See also
- List of police forces in the United Kingdom
- Serious Organised Crime AgencySerious Organised Crime AgencyThe Serious Organised Crime Agency is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom under Home Office sponsorship...
- Forensic Science ServiceForensic Science ServiceThe Forensic Science Service is a government-owned company in the United Kingdom which provides forensic science services to the police forces and government agencies of England and Wales, as well as other countries.-History:...
- LGC Forensics
- Bramshill Police College
- Scottish Police CollegeScottish Police CollegeThe Scottish Police College, based at Tulliallan Castle, in Kincardine-on-Forth, provides basic training to all new recruits to the Scottish Police Forces....
- Garda Síochána CollegeGarda Síochána CollegeGarda Síochána College is the education and training college of the Garda Síochána . It is located at McCan Barracks, Templemore, North Tipperary in Ireland. The college has been located in Templemore since 1964.-History:...
- Jill Dando InstituteJill Dando InstituteThe UCL Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science is an institute of crime science located in London, United Kingdom and a part of University College London...
- Cambridge Institute of CriminologyCambridge Institute of CriminologyThe Cambridge Institute of Criminology was founded in 1959, with the support of a benefaction from the Wolfson Foundation and the Howard League for Penal Reform. It is part of the University of Cambridge's Faculty of Law, but its multidisciplinary teaching and research staff are also recruited from...