From this morning (May 20) the Police Ombudsman’s Office will be the body which will investigate all complaints about the conduct of National Crime Agency Officers in Northern Ireland.
The move means that NCA officers operating in Northern Ireland will be subject to the same accountability arrangements as all police officers in Northern Ireland.
The National Crime Agency investigates serious and organised crime on a national and international scale - including child sexual exploitation, cyber crime, the Class A drugs trade, organised immigration crime and the trade in illegal firearms.
Local MLAs voted in February to allow the Agency to exercise its full powers in Northern Ireland, beginning from today.
Its role here had previously been limited to the investigation of non-devolved matters such as immigration and taxation.
“Confidence in local accountability arrangements was key to the extension of the NCA’s role in Northern Ireland,” said Police Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire.
“My Office will now investigate all complaints about the conduct of NCA officers operating in Northern Ireland, from allegations of misconduct through to alleged criminality,” he said.
The move is the latest extension to the work of the Police Ombudsman’s Office in recent years.
In March its remit was extended to include serious complaints about the conduct of officials carrying out customs and immigration duties.
As well as dealing with complaints about police officers and some civilians employed by the PSNI, the Police Ombudsman also deals with allegations about police officers working for the Belfast International Airport, Larne Harbour and Belfast Harbour and about Ministry of Defence police.