Mr. Drew Harris:

I recognise very much the very good work I have seen since my arrival. I point to extensive seizures of both drugs and money, and I also point to the work of the Criminal Assets Bureau. Only on Monday I saw the list of cases it has, which runs to three or four dozen cases of individuals whom the office is pursuing to seize criminal assets. There is very good work going on.

With regard to the overall question, when dealing with such determined organised crime groups, we must come at it on a number of levels. One element is community policing. In effect, organised crime always puts a foot down somewhere and leaves a bad trace in a local community. In part when I speak of critical neighbourhoods where there is high demand, I mean areas where organised crime gangs may try to find shelter or impose their writ on the local community. Much of our community policing will be about those areas and undermining, in effect, the legend and story of the gangs. We have a national response and, as I stated, great work has been done through seizures of money and drugs, as well as bringing individuals before the courts. There have been some very significant convictions.

On the international aspect, we enjoy good relations with the international partners who engage with us. We have had great support from Europol and the United States through its Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal law enforcement bodies. We also have involvement with the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency, as well as with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI, on the island of Ireland.

Once we can muster those sorts of resources and the different elements they can bring to bear, as an international entity we can start to degrade or break down a crime gang. There is a focus on those gangs and the focus brings results. There are three ways into this and we have demonstrated success in the matter. We want a particular emphasis on the community policing aspect, including those estates and areas where gangs have a particular influence. We want to take back that ground, in effect.