The National Business Crime Solution (NBCS) by retail security contractor Cardinal Group is embarking on a joint venture with the Business Crime Intelligence Bureau (BCIB).
The not-for-profit BCIB is a private sector initiative, headed by Amanda Oliver that seeks to link businesses with law enforcers. It receives and analyses crime intelligence against UK businesses and seeks to identify national prolific offenders. Amanda Oliver also champions the Intelligence stream of the National Business Crime Forum (NBCF).
The partnership will see the BCIB work as the national intelligence hub for the NBCS. Paul Broadbent, Nottinghamshire Assistant Chief Constable, and business crime lead for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), said: “ACPO recognises the value of retail and business crime partnerships at all levels. It is clear that these individual pockets of data could be hugely enhanced if there was a greater willingness to share and exchange this data more widely.Historically individual partnerships and business sectors have not always exchanged data and as a result this has had a limiting effect on its possible value and impact. The possibility of a not for profit hub that sees separate partnerships and intelligence sharing bodies feeding this data into a common hub would greatly enhance the value of such data and provide a more co-ordinated and consistent response to business crime nationally. As part of such an approach, co-operation between retailers into a national data sharing hub would be encouraged”.
The BCIB’s police-trained analysts will analyse data from the police and the National Business Crime Solution and send out information to businesses for crime prevention and law enforcement purposes. The BCIB has a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UK police Regional Intelligence Units (RIUs).
The National Business Crime Solution is described as a centralised operating model – run by The Cardinal Group – that facilitates the sharing of information among businesses. Designed as an operating model, it is underpinned by a live information and intelligence-sharing platform and is already used to tackle retail crime in the United States – LERPnet for Retail, CargoNet for Logistics, and Plant and Machinery. Registered businesses enter business crime data into the system and this information is then collated, analysed and disseminated to other participating business members locally, regionally, nationally or by sector.
About the venture
Cardinal CEO, Jason Trigg says: “Working with the Business Crime Intelligence Bureau is a logical partnership for the NBCS. The BCIB has a unique relationship with Police Regional Intelligence Units and is in a great position to create the communications ‘bridge’ between businesses and the Police. The partnership between the NBCS and the BCIB will set the standard for the future of business crime intelligence sharing through the effective communication of insights, as well as data, at all levels across the UK.”
Amanda Oliver, Managing Director of the Business Crime Intelligence Bureau, adds: “Gaining access to the additional data available via the National Business Crime Solution will enable us to continue building awareness of criminal hot spots and trends around the country. Using the BCIB’s Police trained analysts to monitor activity at a national level and by sector will ensure we can continue to support the authorities and have a major impact on serious cross-border organised crime.”
