Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Secretary, has unveiled measures to tackle organised crime, which he intends to include in a new Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill.
What are the Scottish Government's main proposals?Our proposals will include a new offence of directing or controlling serious organised crime and will also target those who help the 'Mr Bigs' control their empires and manage the
ir financial affairs. We will also propose measures to encourage the greater use of financial reporting orders and to improve the arrangements for police surveillance to save on time-consuming bureaucracy.
Does this mean Scotland's Mr Bigs have been getting away with it?The issue is about staying ahead of organised crime and putting the 'Mr Bigs', their lieutenants and their foot soldiers out of business. Much of their activity is linked to cross-border networks or even global syndicates. And many move into seemingly legitimate businesses. Our response must be similarly co-ordinated, working with SOCA, Europol and others.
Is the proposal to make it easier for police to carry out surveillance not just another attack on civil liberties?Clearly there's a balance to be struck between protecting individual liberties and protecting our communities from organised crime. We want to ensure we minimise bureaucracy so our law enforcement agencies can focus their time and efforts safeguarding law-abiding citizens and hard-working businesses from the parasites behind organised crime.
What will happen next?This work is on-going. That's why I set up the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce. The Taskforce is working on a strategy to back up the legislative changes, including more co-ordinated enforcement, seizing more assets and more action to prevent and disrupt organised crime. We are also investing in the new crime campus at Gartcosh.
The full article contains 295 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
