White-collar investigators will help elite detectives to fight sophisticated crime

Elite police squads of high-fliers and specialist detectives are being proposed by the Home Secretary.

David Blunkett wants top-flight civilian investigators, in areas such as fraud, computer crime and money-laundering, to be recruited to work on complex police inquiries. Under the plans, future detective squads would contain a mixture of elite officers as well as civilians with specialist backgrounds, including people with knowledge and experience of different ethnic groups.

The creation of a corps of top detectives is in response to the growing sophistication of organised criminals who can spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on counter-surveillance. It also acknowledges the growing shortage of experienced detectives, which has resulted in forces having to bring in retired murder squad officers to help out on cases. The elite detectives would be selected at the recruitment stage for fast-track promotion or drawn from serving officers.

The White Paper on police reform suggests that an exceptional candidate could rise to a superintendent or divisional commander within five years – at least half the time taken by most. Once selected the recruits would undergo intensive training.

The White Paper says: "A core of specialist detectives now needs to be developed with a high degree of professional expertise. These would be investigators trained to a high standard and formally accredited. They would have the capacity to play a lead role in the development and execution of strategies for difficult and complex investigations.

"Too few officers currently have the necessary skills to deal with the most complex IT-based crime," warns the White Paper.