Failure to let the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA)
operate fully in Northern Ireland has left local gangsters feeling
untouchable, the Stormont Assembly has been warned.
*Britons must accept a greater loss of digital freedoms in return for
greater safety from serious criminals and terrorists in the internet
age, according to the country’s top law enforcement officer.
Keith Bristow, director general of the National Crime Agency, said in
an interview with the Guardian that it would be necessary to win public
consent for new powers to monitor data about emails and phone calls.
Warning that the biggest threats to public safety are migrating to
the internet and that crime fighters are scrambling to keep up, the NCA
boss said he accepted he had not done a good enough job explaining to
the public why the greater powers were necessary. ...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/06/digital-freedoms-terrorism-crime-uk
*The police have been ordered by the prime minister’s snooping
watchdog to reveal whether they have used their surveillance powers to
identify journalists’ sources.
Sir Paul Kennedy, the interception of communications commissioner,
has launched a full inquiry following two cases in which the police have
accessed telephone and email records to identify journalists’ sources.
He has urged Home Office ministers to accelerate the introduction of
promised protections for journalists, lawyers and others who handle
privileged information, including confidential helplines, from such
police surveillance operations. ...
*www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/06/police-ordered-reveal-ripa-powers-identify-journalists-sources
*More than 140 crime gangs are operating in Northern Ireland, and the
National Crime Agency must be given full powers to tackle them, the DUP
had said.
www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-29499195
During a heated debate on the impasse over extending all the NCA's
powers to the region, unionists claimed Sinn Fein and the SDLP's
opposition to the move was letting many organised criminals off the
hook.
www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk
But republican and nationalist Assembly members rejected the
allegations, insisting the NCA could only be allowed to fully operate in
Northern Ireland if its officers were subject to the same rigorous
oversight mechanisms as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
While an organisation described as the UK's FBI has been up and
running for a year, it is as yet unable to work on security matters in
Northern Ireland that fall within areas devolved to the power-sharing
administration.
Sinn Fein, as the largest nationalist/republican party, has
effectively vetoed the NCA's full implementation due to its claimed
concern over accountability.
In the summer, a United Nations children's rights monitor expressed
strong concerns about Northern Ireland's failure to sign up to the NCA,
claiming there was not a clear system of co-operation to identify and
respond to children who are particularly at risk of becoming victims.
Democratic Unionist William Irwin, tabling the Assembly motion
calling for full implementation of the NCA, noted police estimates that
about 140 crime gangs were active in Northern Ireland.
He also highlighted the pressure the PSNI was under as a result of
having to absorb a £50 million-plus budget cut over the next six months.
"At a time when our policing budgets are under pressure it makes
complete sense to allow the PSNI to have the necessary assistance of the
NCA to carry out their investigative duties," he said.
"The ability to seize assets is also vital in the fight against these gangsters who currently think they are untouchable.
"The reluctance of Sinn Fein and the SDLP to accept the necessity of
allowing the NCA to operate and the PSNI to avail of its expertise in
the fight against crime internationally means that Northern Ireland and
its citizens are at a severe disadvantage.
"The two nationalist parties continually bleat about equality, yet
once again the equality calls fall short when ensuring that our
communities have the very best in terms of security and organisations
tasked with protecting communities have the very best intelligence and
powers at their disposal."
Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly claimed that the history of policing during
the Troubles demonstrated the need for all law enforcement agencies
working in the region to be subject to the same oversight as the PSNI.
The PSNI, which was established as part of peace process policing
reforms, is held directly accountable for its actions by the independent
scrutiny body the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
"Our history has demonstrated what unaccountability does," claimed Mr Kelly, who is also a member of the Policing Board.
"If you go back to those times then you had a force within a force,
you had 'shoot to kill', you had state agents involved in crime right up
to and including murder, you had confessions beaten out of people going
through interrogation centres and we had a police force, not a service,
which was acting as front line troops which was also involved in
collusion and corruption.
"So if you want to know why we are so strong on this issue then
history and the evidence has shown why we are so strong on this."
The SDLP's Alban Maginness said progress had been made to address his
party's concerns on accountability but stressed that he and his
colleagues would not agree until firm commitments had been secured.
"Until those issues are firmly tied down we will not be supportive of
the NCA in operational terms in Northern Ireland," he said.
"Now I think that is wise counsel, I do not believe that is being thran or obtuse or trying to frustrate the rule of law.
"We know the history, we are right, we are going to get this right and it is the right approach."
Ulster Unionist Tom Elliott claimed nationalists and republicans were only opposed to the NCA for political reasons.
"It appears the two nationalist/republican parties are opposed to it simply because it is a UK National Crime Agency," he said.
"What could be wrong with trying to curtail crime, with trying to cut
out crime and with trying to stop crime. I am not actually sure what
the argument is about?"
The cross community Alliance Party's Stewart Dickson said the "myths and fears" created around the NCA needed to be "debunked".
"There is absolutely no doubt that the absence of a fully functioning
National Crime Agency is negatively impacting on our ability to deal
with serious and organised crime," he said.
"There is clear and precise and statistical evidence available."
The DUP's motion calling for the full implementation of the NCA was voted through in spite Sinn Fein and SDLP opposition.
A Sinn Fein amendment arguing that the NCA should be subject to greater accountability was defeated.
The motion records the Assembly's majority view on the issue but does
not compel action - that will only happen if an agreement can be
reached around the table of the power-sharing Executive.
ENDS:
Three men appeared in court in Cork over a drugs seizure on board a yacht
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