October 31, 2007: Serious Crime Act
Measures in the Serious Crime bill will help police tackle serious organised rime, and stop those who profit from hurting others. Officially named the Serious Crime Act 2007, the bill has a number of measures designed to improve the processes used by police and other authorities to identify, find, arrest and prosecute serious offenders. The Serious Crime Bill was published on 17 January 2007.
The measures in the Serious Crime Act 2007 will help deliver the Government's strategy to tackle serious organised crime and target the behaviour of those who profit from damage to our communities. These measures include:
- new power for police to stop and search for weapons in areas where violent crime has occurred
- allowing courts to impose restrictions on those proven to be involved in serious crime
- smoothing the way for more information sharing between public and private sectors
- making encouraging or assisting somebody committing a crime an offence
- merging key elements of the Assets Recovery Agency with the Serious Organised Crime Agency
- facilitating seizing proceeds of crime
- extending HM Revenue and Customs surveillance powers to combat organised tax fraud
These measures are designed to make life difficult for serious criminals; disrupting their operations, and ensuring they do not gain from offending. They will also ensure those more loosely connected with serious criminal groups cannot avoid prosecution.