About AVCIS (source)
With the demise of the NCIS Organised Vehicle Crime Section caused partly by the creation of SOCA it was necessary to examine the strategic fit of organised vehicle crime. There was clearly an identified a gap in the policing environment around organised vehicle crime investigation.
Under the guidance of the ACPO portfolio lead for Vehicle Crime matters, DCC David Ainsworth*, Wiltshire Police, the ACPO Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service was formed. The unit was officially launched in December 2006 by the Policing Minister Mr Vernon Coaker, supported by Sir Ken Jones QPM the President of ACPO.
AVCIS is based within the NPIA complex at Ryton, near Coventry. This provides a central location within the country, proximity to national road networks and adequate office accommodation.
Its overarching aim is:
- ‘to develop and promulgate a full range of enhanced capabilities, that will enable the police service and partners to incapacitate offenders, who use vehicles in the course of their unlawful activities, across the full spectrum of criminal activity‘.
It is recognised that ‘traditional’ vehicle crime, such as theft of or from vehicles is no longer regarded as a policing priority by most forces. However, the use of vehicles in acquisitive crimes, such as burglary, supporting serious and organised crime, and potential links to terrorist offences cannot be overlooked. For that reason the main thrust of AVCIS is to gather intelligence to tackle ‘vehicle-enabled crime’.
AVCIS does not exist in isolation. It operates within a complex and dynamic environment where national priorities are changing and high-level strategies require constant interpretation and reinterpretation. AVCIS works with partner agencies and all stakeholders within the trade and associated businesses to provide the most effective response. AVCIS speaks for the UK Policing in respect of vehicle-enabled crime matters.
AVCIS incorporates a number of specialist functions, including TruckPol, the national freight crime intelligence service, and the Vehicle Fraud Unit who investigate organised finance fraud.
By 2007, AVCIS had compiled a substantial stakeholder directory that included the below: some remain, whilst others have likely been absorbed into other areas, renamed or no longer exist:
- Joint Action Group on Lorry Theft (JAGOLT)
- Leisure Sector Committee
- Motorcycle Crime Reduction Group
- National Roads Policing Intelligence Forum (NRPIF)
- National Vehicle Working Party (PNC)
- Plant Theft Action Group
- Regional Vehicle Crime Intelligence
- Truckpol
- Vehicle Crime Advisory Group (VCAG Police Best Practice Group)
Further stakeholders were categorised as either:
Following the Parker Review into ACPO, ‘ACPO overhaul needed, says general’s report for PCCs, it was replaced in 2015 by a new body, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, set up under a police collaboration agreement under Section 22A of the Police Act 1996.