A new system is being developed by the Police Digital Service and NEC Software Solutions to help manage the recovery of criminal assets, replacing 20-year-old legacy infrastructure
A new system is being developed by the Police Digital Service and NEC Software Solutions to help manage the recovery of criminal assets, replacing 20-year-old legacy infrastructure
UK police are building a new system to help fight economic crime and improve the tracking, management and recovery of criminal assets, the Police Digital Service (PDS) has announced.
Set to replace the legacy Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD) that has been used since 2003 to locate and seize illicit assets – including cash, property, vehicles and high-value goods – the Asset Recovery IT (ARIT) project aims to streamline the way criminal assets are tracked and shared, help disparate teams work more effectively together, and improve the evidence provided to courts.
It will also aim to prevent criminal money from funding further illegal activity, with PDS committing to working closely with police officers, financial investigators, prosecutors and local authorities to build a cloud-based system that meets their individual needs.
The system is also expected to support international and cryptocurrency recovery capabilities, helping more than 3,500 users to manage the recovery of assets held abroad or in digital currencies. All of this will take place within a single, streamlined system.
The ARIT announcement follows the Home Office’s conclusion that JARD’s technology was outdated, expensive to maintain, and lacked the flexibility needed for more complex investigations.
The need to replace JARD has been known for some time, with the Home Office initially publishing a contract notice – worth an estimated £25m – for the “Replacement of the Joint Asset Recovery Database (JARD) IT Systems” in August 2020.
