Section 86: Police members of NCIS
421.With the exception of senior officers, the Police Act 1997 only allows police officers to be seconded to NCIS, rather than working there permanently. Furthermore, it restricts secondments to NCIS to officers from the forty-three forces of England and Wales, forces in Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
422.This section amends section 9 of the Police Act 1997 to provide, for the first time, that NCIS may recruit police officers of any rank directly from police forces, rather than rely solely on secondments. NCIS will advertise for officers in the same way as territorial forces. The intention is that only serving police officers may apply, but from a wide range of forces. In addition to the forces from which NCIS will be able to second, NCIS will be able to recruit officers from the BTP and from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The recruitment pool (but not the secondment pool) for NCIS and NCS will be identical.
423.Subsection (2) provides that, subject to new subsection (3), police officers of any rank may be appointed as police members of NCIS, in addition to being engaged there on temporary service.
424.Subsection (3) replaces the existing subsection (3) to provide that police officers may be recruited from: any force maintained under section 2 of the 1996 Act; the Metropolitan Police; the City of London Police; police forces in Scotland; the Police Service of Northern Ireland; the National Crime Squad; the Ministry of Defence Police; the British Transport Police; and the police forces of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It also provides that officers on temporary service may be recruited on a permanent basis.
425.Subsection (4) amends subsection (9) to provide that the appointment of police officers at the rank of assistant chief constable may not be delegated to the Director General from the Service Authority.
426.Subsection (5) adds a new subsection (9A), which defines ‘temporary service’. The effect of this provision is to define the pool of officers who may be recruited by NCIS in reliance on section 9(3)(k) of the 1997 Act.
