ABSTRACT
This chapter will interrogate the role of the Metropolitan Police’s Specialist Organised and Economic Crime Unit (now SOC7), in tackling economic crime in the public procurement of construction projects for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games (hereafter called the Games). This chapter will first explore the history of organised crime and major construction projects, and second the role of the Specialists, Organised, and Economic Crime Unit (SOEU) and the work of its Operation Podium Team, in developing strategies to tackle procurement crime in the delivery of major construction projects
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 107 Problem ................................................................................................................ 108 Operation Podium and the Planning for the Olympic Games ......................111 The ODA’s Building and Construction Anticorruption Strategy ..................114 Problems with Tackling Fraud .......................................................................... 122 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 124 Notes .................................................................................................................... 125 References ............................................................................................................ 125 Reports ................................................................................................................. 127
for the Games. Third, the chapter details the preparation and evolution of the strategy and tactics used to reduce crime in this area of activity. Finally, the chapter will critically examine the effectiveness of the strategy and tactics of the police, and its partners, and the difficulties in tackling crime in the complex area of major construction projects. The chapter is informed by interviews that were carried out in 2014-2015 with police leaders and intelligence staff from Operation Podium Team who played an important role in the evolution and implementation of its strategy.
