City of London Police will share in a multi-million pound funding pool from the Home Office towards fighting fraud and economic crime.
The force’s national fraud squad was awarded £6.1million from a £100million investment in the Police Transformation Fund announced last week to help police forces across England and Wales adapt to the challenges of the future.
The money will be used to establish a national taskforce for more integrated regional working on fraud, a recruitment drive for fraud detectives and improved training and accreditation for specialist officers through the Economic Crime Agency.
The force is also planning to upgrade its data analysis platforms to integrate information from its own Action Fraud squad and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. This initiative will ensure greater cohesion between the national reporting service for fraud and cyber crime, speeding up the process of sharing data and allowing outcomes to be automatically captured.
City of London Police’s National Co-Ordinator for Economic Crime, Commander Karen Baxter said the funds would “transform” the force’s approach to fraud,” she said.
“We are very pleased to have received this funding from the Home Office.
“The money will allow us to fulfil an aspiration that the City of London Police has had for a long time, to upskill police officers in economic crime and build fraud capabilities across the country.”
Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd said: “Criminals don’t stand still, and neither should our police forces. We’re determined to support police leaders in creating a modern, agile and responsive police service.
“The Police Transformation Fund is delivering real change in policing, and this new funding will continue to help forces improve efficiency and tackle threats like serious, organised and economic crime.”
