Police Central e-Crime Unit
The Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) was part of the Metropolitan Police Service in London, within the Specialist Crime Directorate. It was created to fight e-crime across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, bringing together police forces from the UK (except Scotland) to tackle electronic crime.
Its main job was to handle e-crime in a national way: improving how police help victims, building police capabilities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, coordinating the fight against all types of e-crime, and providing a national investigative capability for serious cases.
The PCeU began on 1 October 2008 and aimed to improve the UK’s policing response to cyber crime. It was based in central London and covered England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while working closely with police in Scotland and with international law enforcement. It also had representation at Europol and Interpol on cyber matters.
From February 2012, the PCeU opened three regional hubs outside London, in the North West, North East and Midlands, announced at the ACPO cyber conference in Sheffield.
The PCeU was part of the ACPO e-crime programme led by DAC Janet Williams.
In 2013, it began to be merged into the National Cyber Crime Unit of the newly formed National Crime Agency.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:16 (CET).