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What is RART?

The RARTs (Regional Asset Recovery Teams) are dedicated multi-agency teams formed to support law enforcement agencies to assist them in their task of confiscating as large a proportion as possible of the £25 billion pounds generated each year by the criminal economy.
                                                           
Empowered by the provisions of POCA (Proceeds of Crime Act 2002) there are five regional teams - North West, North East, Midlands, Wales and London - which are being funded by the Home Office to the end of March 2011 in the amount of £36 million. 

The RART in the North West is a regional collaboration involving the police services of 

          Lancashire          
          Cumbria
          Merseyside
          Greater Manchester
          Cheshire
          North Wales

and the following agencies:

          Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs
          Crown Prosecution Service. 

The team includes police officers, customs officers, a tax inspector, analysts, police staff financial investigators, support staff, a CPS lawyer and CPS caseworker.

The NW Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) provides a multi agency approach to reducing crime through asset recovery. The activity of the NW RART, which commenced operations in January 2004, is focused on engaging serious and organised crime that operates across individual police service boundaries.

The proactive use of the new powers contained in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is key to the units' delivery of an enhanced response to financial investigation.

This will ensure that criminal assets are identified at an early stage and recovered through confiscation orders made by the courts following conviction. This in turn reduces the funding available to finance future criminality and increases the amounts available to be recycled into law enforcement and crime reduction initiatives.