Confiscated items on sale; Cheshire Police Ebay site (Pic: Lisa Jones)[/caption]WITH money at the heart of all organised crime, Cheshire police are more determined than ever to part criminals from profit.
A new scheme created by police will bring money back into the community by selling items which have been confiscated from criminals.
So far 27 items are up for grabs on the Cheshire police Ebay, the cash raised from these online auctions will go back to the Home Office, with Cheshire Constabulary receiving 18 per cent of the proceeds.
So far, over £20,000 has been raised by selling items such as digital cameras, laptop computers and mobile phones, which has then been reinvested into policing Cheshire.
The scheme has been former as part of the Court ‘Confiscation’ Order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).
To view current auctions visit http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/cheshirepolice/
Karen Jaundrill, Detective Sergeant of the Financial Investigation Unit said: “The purpose of POCA is to deprive a convicted criminal of any financial benefit they have made through their crimes. POCA empowers convicted criminals to sell their assets in order to pay off their confiscation order. These goods are authentic but have been bought with money obtained through crime.
“By selling items in this way, we hope to generate a bigger income from criminal assets, which in turn will benefit victims of crime and be reinvested in local policing initiatives.”
Crime is likely to fall as a result of the POCA; it sends a clear message to criminals that crime does not pay.
While people are hard at work earning money, others take advantage of vulnerable people bringing misery to the community and profiting from fear.
Communities are being asked by police to help tackle crime by calling the police direct or contact Crimestoppers in your area.
Geraint Jones, Crime Operations said: “What I can assure you is that we will take every report seriously, we will feed back to you what we have done. You will see the action we take in result of the information that you have given us.”
Related links:
http://www.cheshire.police.uk/get-involved/organised-crime.aspx
https://crimestoppers-uk.org/
Chester Intelligencer reporter, Lisa Jones
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