SP Grove spends fortnight in UK SOCA on
attachment
Superintendent (SP) Paul Grove of Yau Tsim District recently spent two weeks at the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in London on attachment.
Dating back to its formulation in 2006, SOCA was created following amalgamation of the UK's National Crime Squad, the National Criminal Intelligence Agency and elements from other government departments including HM Revenue & Customs and Immigration. The primary objective of SOCA is tackling serious organised crimes affecting the UK. These include drugs, smuggling and human trafficking, major firearm crime and money laundering. SOCA is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by, but operationally independent from, the Home Office.
Prior to his attachment programme, SP Grove had the opportunity of personally discussing with Mr Mike Davey, one of the two SOCA Liaison officers permanently based on the Mainland, on the format of the attachment. "This provided SOCA and in particular those responsible for organising my attachment with a clearer picture of my own service profile and what I was expecting to get out of the programme," said SP Grove.
During the attachment, SP Grove was introduced to various aspects of the Agency. Visits to SOCA's Economic Crime Department based in Canary Wharf and to the UK Human Trafficking Centre operating out of Birmingham proved extremely insightful regarding the challenges facing the UK in both of these significant areas of criminal activity.
As part of the attachment programme, SP Grove also visited the UK's Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and was impressed with how resources from the UK police, social welfare, specialist charities and other stakeholders were able to effectively work together within a structured framework and with organisational aim of eradicating sexual abuse of children. SP Grove noted: "During the time with CEOP, the dedication by all the staff towards their work was evident throughout, with the safety of children being of paramount importance."
SP
Grove (left) with the Head of SOCA East Branch International, Mr John
Coles