Staffordshire Police

The Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART (Opens in new window)) provides a multi agency response to asset recovery by supporting investigations which target criminals engaged in drugs related or serious and organised crime. This supports Government and local agency targets to recover £250 Million of the £25 Billion estimated to be generated within the criminal economy each year.

RART currently comprises Warwickshire (Opens in new window), West Midlands (Opens in new window), West Mercia (Opens in new window) and Staffordshire police forces, as well as Inland Revenue, Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (Opens in new window) (HMRC) and Crown Prosecution Service (Opens in new window) (CPS). The team is currently based at a location in South Birmingham and has pledged funding from the Home Office until 2011.

The RART supports regional asset recovery by assisting authorised money launder investigations and undertaking confiscation, forfeiture and restraint . In addition, RART can support / advise enquiries where forensic accountancy may be necessary, provide mentoring support to trainee financial investigators and can deliver Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) awareness training within forces.
 
POCA, and other legislation focused on criminal’s assets, offers many opportunities to enhance previous policing purpose. At a strategic level it:

• Increases confidence in the Criminal Justice System
• Reduces the incentive to commit crime by reducing the pay off
• Allows police to tackle the inequality of successful criminal role models and restore a sense of fairness to society
• Removes criminal assets from the criminal economy preventing its re investment in criminal enterprise
• Generates income to reinvest in policing priorities / communities

Midland RART currently has 24 staff and is overseen by the Regional Implementation Programme Board chaired by a Regional Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO (Opens in new window)) Officer.

To find out more please go to the following website www.rart.gov.uk (Opens in new window) or call 0845 113 5000.