Home Secretary: Britain needs an 'FBI'

LONDON, June 9 (UPI) -- Britain needs a national FBI-style police agency to deal with the growing problem of organized crime, Home Secretary Theresa May said Wednesday.

May said the National Crime Agency would be better able to deal with crimes committed in different parts of the country and would have the ability to bring new technology to the job, The Independent reported. The NCA would absorb several existing agencies, including the Serious Organized Crime Agency and the Child Exploitation unit, and would have divisions dealing with computer crime and border protection.

"NCA officers will be able to draw on a wide range of powers, including those of a police constable, immigration or customs powers," May said. "This will mean that NCA officers -- unlike anybody else -- will be able to deploy powers and techniques that go beyond the powers of a police officer."

Yvette Cooper, the Labor Party's shadow home secretary, said many important police agencies, including the Metropolitan Police, are in a state of "suspended animation."

"All of this at a time when 12,000 police officers have been cut across the country," Cooper said. "The Government is pushing ahead with American-style plans for police and crime commissioners that nobody wants."