Natural Justice: A Joint Thematic Inspection of the Arrangements in Scotland for Preventing, Investigating and Prosecuting Wildlife Crime

The National Intelligence Model ( NIM) is an intelligence-led policing model adopted by ACPO and ACPOS in 2000 as the means by which police forces throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland should set their priorities and allocate their resources.

The NIM is a business model which ensures that information is used in a way that enables managers to determine strategic direction, make tactical and resourcing decisions and manage risk. Because it is an intelligence-led model it encourages proper examination and analysis of all available information and decision making based on sound evidence.

Four main products emerge from the NIM process which are:

• The Strategic Assessment - The Strategic Assessment is an overview of ongoing and long-term issues which involve criminality or have community safety implications.
• The Tactical Assessment - This defines short-term issues, comparing current figures to seasonal averages and makes recommendations in accordance with the Control Strategy.
• Target Profiles - These bring together information leading to a greater understanding of a person or group of people, for example a gang of people engaged in criminal or anti-social behaviour.
• Problem Profiles - These provide information leading to a greater understanding of a problem, perhaps involving a series of crimes or incidents or a hotspot location, and make recommendations for tactical resolution.

Having completed a strategic assessment from a comprehensive environmental scanning and consultation exercise, a Control Strategy will be set for the area concerned at a strategic tasking and co-ordinating group meeting. The control strategy is derived from the strategic assessment and sets the long-term policing priorities.

The NIM operates over three geographical levels. Broadly speaking, level 1 deals with local issues as found in a police division or command unit, level 2 with force and regional issues, and level 3 with national issues.

Information used by the NIM is gathered from a variety of sources, including reports of criminal activity, criminal intelligence and relevant information from external agencies. Once collated, the information is analysed and contributes to the production of the four 'products' indicated above. The NIM aims to ensure that the information is used in an effective and efficient manner by identifying problems, prioritising them and allocating an appropriate response, however, the quality of the response is often dependent on availability of resources and other priorities.

Central to the NIM is the Tasking andCo-ordinating Group ( TCG) process, which operates at all three levels. A tasking and co-ordinating group comprises of key representatives from the geographical area under examination who consider the resources available and prioritise activity for a specified period. Resourcing decisions are generally aligned to priorities identified within the control strategy and take into account the nature of crimes, what is known of the suspects/perpetrators/victims, and any hot-spot locations.

The NIM is not just about intelligence or policing. The principles are very similar to those used in other risk businesses in the public and private sectors, like public health or fund management. It follows that the NIM business model can be applied beyond crime and antisocial behaviour to deliver more effective community safety and partnership working. In some forces, relevant partners are invited to the strategic and tactical tasking and co-ordinating group meetings.

The development of policing wildlife crime issues has led to the introduction of the Scottish Wildlife Crime Coordinators Tasking and Coordinating Group ( SWCTCG).