About Us                                  

Vision :

The Regional Asset Recovery Team RART is to provide a multi agency response to asset recovery by supporting investigations which target criminals engaged in drugs related or serious and organised crime. This supports Government and local agency targets to recover £250 Million of the £25 Billion estimated to be generated within the criminal economy each year.

Stakeholders :

RART currently comprises Warwickshire ,West Midlands , West Mercia and Staffordshire police forces as well as  Inland Revenue , Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise (HMRC) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The team is currently based at a location in South  Birmingham  and has pledged funding from the Home Office until 2011.

The RART supports regional asset recovery by assisting authorised money launder investigations and undertaking Confiscation , Forfeiture and Restraint . In addition RART can support / advise enquiries where forensic accountancy may be necessary, provide mentoring support to trainee financial investigators and can deliver Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) Awareness Training within forces.

POCA , and other legislation focused on criminal’s assets offers many opportunities to enhance previous policing purpose. At a strategic level it:

• Increases confidence in the Criminal Justice System
• Reduces the incentive to commit crime by reducing the pay off
• Allows police to tackle the inequality of successful criminal role models and restore a sense of fairness to society.
• Removes criminal assets from the criminal economy preventing its re investment in criminal enterprise
• Generates income to reinvest in policing priorities / communities