National Police Chief’s boss warns a No Deal Brexit would cripple crime fighting as systems would be ‘slow and more bureaucratic’

NO DEAL Brexit would cripple crime fighting leaving the public at risk, a top cop warned last night.

National Police Chiefs’ Council boss Sara Thornton said forces will have to fall back on “slower, more bureaucratic” systems if talks with Brussels collapse.

Crime-fighting could be seriously hindered by a No Deal Brexit,Getty - Contributor

She warned that without a deal with the EU, the UK would be automatically shut out of more than 40 crime fighting agreements.

That includes the European Arrest Warrant and the Schengen Information System, an intelligence database that was accessed 539 million times by British authorities last year alone.

Her warning came as she unveiled for a new unit that will oversee how forces use alternative systems if the UK goes it alone next March.

The contingency planning team has £2 million Home Office funding and will be made up of 50 police officers and staff.

Police boss Sara Thornton says that in a No Deal Brexit the UK could be shut out from crime fighting informationHandout

She said: “The fallbacks we’re going to have to use will be slower, will be more bureaucratic and it will make it harder for us to protect UK citizens and make it harder to protect EU citizens.

“We are determined to do everything we can to mitigate that, but it will be hard.”

Ms Thornton went on: “A very current example would be the two GRU officers who were responsible for the Novichok attack.

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