Body in Charge of UK Policing Policy is Now an £18m-a-year Brand Charging The Public £70 for a 60p Criminal Records Check

Britain's most powerful police body is being run as a private business with an annual income of around £18million.The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), which oversees everything from anti-terrorism policy to speed cameras, was last night facing demands that it be disbanded, following a Mail on Sunday investigation into its activities which include:

Selling information from the Police National Computer for up to £70 – even though it pays just 60 pence to access those details.

Marketing ‘police approval’ logos to firms selling anti-theft devices.

Operating a separate private firm offering training to speed camera operators, which is run by a senior officer who was banned from driving.

Advising the Government and police forces – earning £32million of taxpayers’ money in the process.

Employing retired senior officers on lucrative salaries.

Until now, ACPO’s central role in policing has not been questioned as it is seen as an essential, if sometimes controversial, public body writing the rules on police operations as well as campaigning on key issues such as the proposed 90-day detention for terror suspects and the DNA database.

But the organisation is not a public body, nor is it a police trade union or even a campaign group. It is a private company – a self-styled ‘global brand name’ – paid millions of pounds a year by the taxpayer to effectively run the nation’s police forces.

Because ACPO is a private company, members of the public cannot use the Freedom of Information Act to scrutinise its operations. Last night it came under fire from politicians and human rights lawyers, who called for its immediate reform.

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