# British Intelligence



## EvermenEXE (Jun 13, 2013)

I am having a bit of a problem with character realism in my story, as several...'participating' characters in the story are members of british intelligence. Now I have it setup that they MAY not have to show up at all, which would be optimal for myself. But if they have to be in I'd like to atleast get a good understanding of how the whole British intelligence community operates.

Take this scenario for instance:

Important members of british society are murdered in a brutal and thoroughly grotesque fashion, prompting an inquiry into the case by MI5. A prominent criminal is found to be involved and they assume total control of the case. The lead suspect however, escapes to Germany.

In this situation, who would do what? Would they have to go to local German authorities to apprehend the suspect? Would they do it themselves? Would the case go to the MI6 (international british intelligence) or the CID?

Regardless I'd appreciate places where I could get a better understanding of how they operate.


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## Apple Ice (Jun 13, 2013)

I think it's fair to say that you probably won't get all the answers from here. If in the unlikely event one of the members were an ex-member of MI5 they still wouldn't be at liberty to discuss. 

I think what would probably happen is they would contact the Germans and either request they apprehend the suspect or ask permission to go in and do it themselves. The first option being most likely. They can't do anything without Germany's say so due to the many ties we have with the country.


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## Sam (Jun 13, 2013)

MI5 is a counter-terrorist unit. It exists to protect the country from foreign attacks, and works hand-in-hand with MI6's espionage agents in order to curtail threats to the United Kingdom. Neither has the jurisdiction to investigate murder unless the criminal is a terrorist or poses a threat to the country. 

To my knowledge, the case would be handled by the CID. They would have to organise an extradition treaty with Germany in order to expedite the criminal's return to the UK. If the criminal is German, this would be almost impossible. They could then bring the case to higher-ups, who might task MI5 or MI6 with the job of extracting the criminal through devious and clandestine means.


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## petejoz (Jun 13, 2013)

Apple Ice said:


> I think it's fair to say that you probably won't get all the answers from here. If in the unlikely event one of the members were an ex-member of MI5 they still wouldn't be at liberty to discuss.
> 
> I think what would probably happen is they would contact the Germans and either request they apprehend the suspect or ask permission to go in and do it themselves. The first option being most likely. They can't do anything without Germany's say so due to the many ties we have with the country.



Pretty much this.

MI5 cannot just stroll into Germany, and M15 would probably hand it over to MI6. They would probably do a joint operation with German law enforcement.


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## EvermenEXE (Jun 13, 2013)

Ah I figured as much. Thanks for the help everyone! Helps clear things up.


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## Bloggsworth (Jun 13, 2013)

Sam said:


> MI5 is a counter-terrorist unit. It exists to protect the country from foreign attacks, and works hand-in-hand with MI6's espionage agents in order to curtail threats to the United Kingdom. Neither has the jurisdiction to investigate murder unless the criminal is a terrorist or poses a threat to the country.
> 
> To my knowledge, the case would be handled by the CID. They would have to organise an extradition treaty with Germany in order to expedite the criminal's return to the UK. If the criminal is German, this would be almost impossible. They could then bring the case to higher-ups, who might task MI5 or MI6 with the job of extracting the criminal through devious and clandestine means.



It could be handled by Special Branch within the UK, depending on where the crooks come from - If the security services had an interest, they wouldn't let it be known. A European Arrest Warrant would be issued if the perp was from a country in the EEC, no need for extradition.


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## Abdul-fattah (Jun 23, 2013)

I'm not sure,
but rather than contacting German intelligence/police, wouldn't they go trough interpol?


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