The EU Budgetary Control Committee (CONT) has recommended that the European Parliament postpone discharging CEPOL’s financial accounts for budgetary year 2009. CEPOL has now had a new Director since February 2010 and is implementing its Multi Annual Action Plan in order to function correctly as an EU Agency and meet the standards expected by the CONT and European Parliament. The CEPOL of 2008 and 2009 no longer exists; CEPOL in 2011 is an organisation dedicated to excellence in all areas of activity.

The recommendation does not come as a surprise since the year 2009 was marked by inadequacy and ineffectiveness in the areas of budget, procurement and human resources management. In addition the European Anti-Fraud Office’s (OLAF) investigation has led to a referral for a criminal procedure against the former director. This fact casts a shadow over the achievements of 40 national training institutions in the Member States and draws the attention away from the core activities and the value added to the fight against crime through education and learning.

Training courses, seminars, conferences, the exchange programme and other projects have brought together thousands of senior police officers, scientists and researchers in the last 5 years.

The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm Programme means that the coming years will be marked by increasing expectations of European law enforcement education. Building European training schemes is one aim that will result in a shift from quantitative to qualitative thinking in teaching and learning in law enforcement. Aligned with this trend, CEPOL will concentrate on the implementation of its approved strategy and address all of the CONT’s expectations.

The European Police College has been under new management since February 2010 and now performs the work of the Agency in line with all applicable regulations and legitimate expectations of all stakeholders.

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CEPOL seminar 2011/40 “Police Authorities of Candidate Countries” was organised by the French CEPOL team on 22–25 march 2011. This activity took place on the premises of the sub directorate for training and competency development of the French ministry of interior in Lognes, France. The seminar’s aim was to promote international police cooperation among the European member states to EU candidate countries.

Organised for the first time in France, this activity attracted 22 participants from four candidate countries namely Croatia, f.Y.R.o.M, Montenegro and Turkey. Representatives from the French police (OCRIEST – SCOPPOL), French police academies (ENSP – ENSOP), Romanian and Polish police officers, and EU Agencies (Europol – Frontex) presented international police cooperation and also the joint investigation operations between European police forces.

The seminar was officially opened by the deputy director of international cooperation Mr Moulinie, Mrs Martine Naute, sub director for training and competency development, and the director of CEPOL, Dr BANFI who presented CEPOL and its perspective on candidate countries. For four days a variety of topics including international cooperation tools were discussed and illustrated. Mr Felkay from the French delegation in Zagreb explained European cooperation in the Balkan area. The deputy director of ENSP, Mr Valezy, presented the international approach and training system used in top ranking academies. Mr Aragnouet from OCRIEST focused his intervention on examples of illegal immigration networks. Frontex and Europol via Mr Reinsenzein and Mr Byrne respectively were able to illustrate how their Agencies cooperate and assist European actions for joint investigation operations. Mr Piasecki and Mr Nastase from supporting countries Poland and Romania gave examples of their activity in the field of joint police cooperation within their Member States.

Workshops allowing participants from candidate countries to exchange their experience of cooperation were held throughout the seminar. These served as platforms to expose their willingness for better cooperation and communication and gave the participants a chance to compare examples of best practice.

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Road Safety was the subject of a seminar held in Münster, Germany on 08 –11 March 2011. The aims of the seminar were to improve the participant’s knowledge on traffic safety issues and European Best Practice examples, with a specific focus on “Powered Two Wheelers”. Specialised Accident Investigation and new developments in the field of Driver Assistance Systems were topics also included in the 4 day event.

Twenty-one participants from 15 EU countries and lecturers from Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands took part in the seminar.

The seminar started with a welcome by Mr Klaus Neidhardt, president of the German Police University, and an introduction into the programme by Chief Superintendent Martin Mönnighoff, Head of the Traffic Management Department and Superintendent Dr. Thomas Bastian. Following a round of presentations by the participants illustrating corresponding functions and good practice in the field of Road Safety in their respective Member States, Thomas Tietz, Baden-Württemberg police, gave an insight into the strategies implemented in the federal state to tackle accidents with Powered Two Wheelers. Major Peter Szabó, Hungarian Police, presented the newly introduced Accident Scene Positioning and Data Recording System used in Hungary.

Day two put an emphasis on accident investigation, starting with a lecture by Dutch expert Albertus Nieuwenhuis of the Korps Landelijke Politiediensten, KLPD, focussing on specialised motorcycle accident analysis. Björn Ekhoff, Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine Westphalia, subsequently discussed Digital Traces stored by various internal control systems in advanced modern vehicles and their value for scientific accident analysis. That afternoon the participants had the possibility to get a glimpse at what the future holds in the field of driver assistance systems. Dr. Jörg Breuer and his team from the Daimler Corporation presented the latest developments in this field and gave the participants the opportunity to experience lane assistance systems, dynamic cornering lights, blind spot and breaking assistant in a first hand driving demonstration on the test facilities of the North Rhine Westphalia police.

A field study visit to the Police Headquarters in Cologne and their specialised accident investigation team was organised for day three of the seminar. Assistant Chief Constable Helmut Simon and his team gave an insight into their work and current cases. The participants had the possibility to observe and discuss equipment used and expertise gained first hand with their German counterparts.

During the seminar’s closing session Martin Mönnighoff, Head of the Traffic Management Department at the German Police University, encouraged participants to make use of their CEPOL connections as an interdisciplinary platform for networking and exchanging examples of good practice. He stressed the importance and function of police networking and the development of common policing standards, in the process of reducing traffic casualties across Europe. With this in mind it is also relevant to mention, that the organisers made use of CEPOL´s e-Net to provide participants with pre-course material and the possibility of coordinating their expectations. Efforts were put into encouraging participants to provide information from their respective countries to feed a Road Safety Section within e-Net´s LMS Police Knowledge Bases containing for example prevention material for traffic safety campaigns.

The seminar was organised by the German Police Universities Traffic Management Department in conjunction with Netherlands KLPD and the Hungarian Police.

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The European Union is an area of ever expanding borders, encompassing a myriad of different cultures, values and educational backgrounds within the mind and psyche of its citizens. In the midst of this vast sea of diversity and multiculturalism, the Police Forces of the Member States are being asked to be the only constant point on an ever changing horizon, the reference point to which every citizen, no matter the country or individual place, should look to for advice and aid in coping with whatever trouble the future might hold. In such an environment, we have no other choice but to go back to our roots, innovate and update our basic knowledge and take strength from it. In other words, we have to go back to training.

Since the start of the 21st century, technological breakthroughs have affected not only the efficiency but also the mindset of outlaws in Europe as well worldwide. Our only option is to adapt and update the training offered to Member States to cope with this fact. The use of internet in police training and the use of psychological support are solutions with an outlook to the future and will help police forces that have to work in multicultural environments.

With the above in mind, the CEPOL Unit of the Hellenic Police Academy organised and hosted the CEPOL Seminar 77/2011, “Train the Trainers” – Step 1. The seminar took place in Athens on 15 – 18 March 2011 and was aimed at nationally competent trainers/experts and police officers wanting to increase their competences in training, group-working and understand diversity in a multicultural training/ working environment.

The use of e-Net’s LMS fully supported this activity, highlighting its capacity to broaden professional networks, and was greatly appreciated by lecturers and participants alike. The main objectives of this two-step activity are:

• Given general and CEPOL educational standards, the participant will organise effective European and CEPOL learning environments, especially with regards to multicultural environments.
• Given a learning situation, the participant will identify and clarify the benefits of diversity in CEPOL and in European learning communities as well as organise the learning process.
• Given a learning situation (e.g. course, lecture, simulation, discussion), the participant will facilitate and moderate learning processes by implementing appropriate learning methods and coaching during and after the course.
• Given study materials, the participant makes use of opportunities for continuous quality improvement during the course (e.g.: evaluation, reflection, peer review).
• Given CEPOL e-Net’s Learning Management System (LMS) and knowledge bases, the participant will judge their applicability in the learning environment and make use of them, encouraging participants to access and contribute to the European Learning Network.

The seminar was led by experts from the CEPOL Secretariat, the Working Group on Learning, Germany (organiser and host of the second step), as well as an expert from Greece.

Following the initial introductory CEPOL – EU awareness presentation, the first day was dedicated to the learning environment of a CEPOL seminar, the differences between National and International training and the intercultural differences in training. The subject of adult learning and its methods-approaches to learning were addressed in the day’s final session.

The second day started with a presentation delivered on setting objectives, followed by a practical exercise involving all participants that led to a discussion on the same subject. Subsequently a presentation on evaluation, followed by a small presentation of Kirk Patrick’s model, was given. The day continued with an introduction to peer review and concluded with the role of research in Police training and the use of e-Net’s e-Library.

Presentations on day three started with the following topic: “Psychology of police trainees – Evidence-based and practice-based interventions in supporting police trainees within a culturally relevant training context”, a new topic that has recently been included in the course’s curriculum. After, the participants were introduced to e-Learning and its use in the CEPOL environment, reinforced with the use of a practical exercise using e-Net’s LMS that led to a long session of questions and answers. Following this, each participant had the chance to identify topics missed (if any) or needing further exploration (to be dealt with in step 2). The day came to an end with explanations provided by the experts regarding the participant’s assignment that needs to be worked on between the two steps of the activity.

The final day was dedicated to a written evaluation of the seminar and Deputy Director of the Hellenic Police Lieutenants’ School, Police Colonel MANTIKOS Georgios, handing out the certificates to the participants. Timo Greil, a participant from Germany, wrote about the course in his evaluation: "The course in Athens was a real experience. The perfect mix between knowledge mediation, Greek hospitality, culture and teamwork made learning possible. I hope CEPOL courses are always like this."

Mr. Joao Cabaco, an expert from Portugal, stated:
“As a trainer, during the course I felt the participants really interested in the learning process; they always give contributions to ongoing discussions, and shared their expertise. Learning occurred during the sessions, but a lot of knowledge was exceptionally shared during the working groups and the free time. Everybody was really involved in the course. Thank you all.”

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The 24th Governing Board meeting, the first to be hosted by the Hungarian Presidency, took place in Budapest, Hungary from 9 to 10 March 2011. The meeting was opened by Dr. Sándor Pintér, Minister of Internal Affairs who declared: „10 years of CEPOL has lead to common training of police officers and Hungarians are committed to supporting it further”. Dr. Pintér would want the 5 Year recommendations to have sufficient support at the high level conference on 18 May and wished good results in these endeavours.

The main topics discussed in the meeting were:

• CEPOL 5 Year Evaluation and Report
• The Secretariat Activity Report December 2010 – March 2011
• Annual Activity Report for 2010
• CEPOL Strategy
• Update Report on the Inter Agency Cooperation Scorecard
• Exchange Programme 2011
• Reimbursement for Courses and Seminars – update the GB Decision 30/2006
• Status Report on Centralisation of the Booking of flights for CEPOL meetings
• Proposal for Public Private Partnerships
• Annual Audit Plan
• Hungarian Proposal to invite Candidate Countries to the 25th GB
• Results of NCP meeting
• CEPOL SIRENE Training Support for SIRENE – Status Report
• Approval of Updated Internal Control Standards

The Governing Board adopted a number of decisions, including:

• Adoption of the CEPOL 5 Year Report
• Amendment to GB Decision 30/2006
• Approval of the Annual Report 2010
• Appointing the CCWG Chair and Deputy Chair
• Approval of the new Internal Control Standards

The Chair of the Governing Board announced:

• The Chair announced that as agreed by the 23rd Governing Board, a letter of support has been sent to Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director General EU Commission DG HOME
• The importance of adopting the 5 Year Report

The Chair presented:

• CEPOL 5 Year Evaluation and Report
• Reimbursement for Courses and Seminars – update the GB Decision 30/2006
• Audit Panel: Annual Audit Plan
• Any other Competent Business

The Director presented:

• The Secretariat Activity Report December 2010 – March 2011.
• The Annual Activity Report for 2010
• Update on the Inter Agency Cooperation Scorecard
• Proposal for Public Private Partnerships
• NPIA – Memorandum of Understanding

The Deputy Director presented:

• Annual Report 2010
• Exchange Programme 2011
• Status Report on the Centralisation of the Booking of Flights for CEPOL meetings
• CEPOL SIRENE Training Support for SIRENE – Status Report

Head of Corporate Services Department presented:

• Provisional Financial Statements and Accounts 2010
• Roadmap of the Information Management Strategy, ICT Strategy and Communication Strategy

The 25^th Governing Board meeting is scheduled for 14-15 June 2011 in Balatonalmádi, Hungary.

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The ideas and recommendations produced by the Euro-African Conference held in Naples, Italy, from 7 to 9 February 2011 offer plenty of food for thought for CEPOL’s future activities.

The issues addressed were drug-trafficking routes, the flows of migrants controlled by organized crime, and the political instability related to religious radicalism.

During the proceedings, which were attended by 68 African and European chiefs of police, a number of common elements in the analysis of crime related to the flows of migrants were identified.

To begin with, it was observed that criminal activities often interlock with one another: an undoubtedly migration-prone area, Africa is also a transit and storage point for drugs originating in Latin America.

As often as not, local criminal gangs, which may have military control of transit areas, allow the passage of drugs through their territory in exchange for money or weapons. These armed gangs often oppose the central government, in an attempt to impose religious fundamentalism as the form of government of their state.

The various humanitarian organizations, as well as a number of political representatives who attended the conference, stated that the real problem is the development of the African continent. Driven by endemic poverty, migrants face one danger after another, in an effort to seek better living conditions. As a result, the weak and vulnerable – women, children, and the elderly – often lose their lives.

Those who survive almost invariably fall into the hands of the organized crime rings that run the illegal transportation of people and goods to Europe.

Solutions have been proposed at various levels. The creation of favourable conditions for economic development and government stability in high-risk areas is a political solution that does not, however, appear to be feasible in the short run.

What could be achieved, as Italian Chief of Police Antonio Manganelli repeatedly emphasized at the conference, is establishing direct contact and entering into operating agreements with the individual countries: basically, team work, with “security” being the operative word, irrespective of the country of origin of the stakeholders.

With this in mind, four panels of experts have been set up which will evolve into permanent working groups. They will meet on a regular basis to take stock of the situation, analyze the changes underway and put forward shared solutions to combat crimes falling within their respective remits.

The four working groups are as follows:

• Immigration
• Trafficking in human beings and organized crime
• Drug trafficking
• Terrorism

The final documents contain the guidelines and recommendations agreed by the countries forming part of this anticrime network. These will constitute common “rules of engagement” to counter transnational crime.

The members of the Immigration group have agreed the following recommendations:

• the launch of new projects, with possible input from international organizations active in the field of migration, to implement well thought-out strategies having socio-economic impacts, e.g. informing the younger generation about the dangers of illegal immigration;
• illegal migration source, transit and destination countries should strengthen international cooperation efforts to counter illegal immigration, by adopting national surveillance systems, enforcing tougher border controls and optimizing the use of technology. Similarly, EU countries affected by illegal migration should launch information exchange programmes, with a view to facilitating legal entry into the EU;
• enhancing the operational capabilities of the countries affected by illegal migration – and, more specifically, the technical and professional capabilities of the police officers entrusted with combating this type of crime – would necessitate carefully devised strategies and bilateral or multilateral agreements, with the support of the European Commission or other international bodies. This would include, inter alia, the planning of training schemes and the provision of technology;
• the use of liaison officers would favourably impact the fight against transnational illegal immigration rings;
• harmonizing the legislation in place in African countries – without prejudice to human rights – and bringing in legislative tools aimed at countering criminal association offences would be beneficial operationally;
• the use of international police cooperation tools, such as those provided by INTERPOL and EUROPOL, should be increased.

The members of the group on Trafficking in human beings and organized crime have agreed the following recommendations:

1. to establish international police cooperation, involving our African counterparts in illegal migration source and transit countries to the greatest extent possible;
2. to hold joint training seminars aimed at harmonizing strategies to combat illegal migration and protect illegal migration victims. Non-EU police officers could be invited to attend such training initiatives, with a view to increasingly involving migration source and destination countries in the fight against illegal migration;
3. to make the group permanent and fix a date for the next meeting within the next six months. The idea is to create a body which coordinates future transnational investigations, and a forum for the exchange of information with NGOs, IOM, and ICMPD – rolled into one.

The members of the Drug-trafficking group have agreed the following recommendations:

• to encourage the production of a flow of information aiming to provide users with an intimate, up-to-date knowledge of the current situation;
• to work towards standardizing communication systems and languages;
• to identify needs and relay them to international fora such as the EU, UNODC, the G8 and the G20;
• to plan joint capacity building and training delivery projects targeted at law enforcement agencies;
• to facilitate the harmonization of legal provisions;
• to improve the exchange of intelligence and law-enforcement information, also through the creation of an African database.

The members of the Terrorism group have agreed the following recommendations:

• to create and/or strengthen an operational and information exchange international cooperation network of investigative bodies actively engaged in the fight against cyber terrorism, both proactively and reactively;
• to share, on a regular basis, best practice in investigative procedures and techniques, including the use of technology (both conventional and unconventional) for investigative purposes, with a view to improving undercover police operation techniques;
• hopefully, to pursue the above goals thanks to the interaction provided by the Euro-African Conference, considering the permanent nature of this forum.

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The 15th External Relations Working Group (ERWG) meeting took place in Warsaw, Poland, on 10-11 February 2011 in the presence of the Hungarian CEPOL Presidency and CEPOL’s Director. The Chair of the ERWG had the pleasure of welcoming two newcomers from Cyprus and Croatia, among the 19 participants to the meeting.

The ERWG made concrete and substantial progress on the finalisation of CEPOL’s External Relations Policy Paper, which is meant to respond to the opportunities and challenges for the European dimension of Law Enforcement training offered by the new EU Security Architecture, resulting from the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the implementation of the Stockholm Programme and its Action plan. With this in mind, the ERWG took note of recent EU Commission communications on Internal Security.

Recognising the important role played by its partner EU Agencies such as Europol, Frontex, Eurojust, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and others, the Committee on Internal Security (COSI), which CEPOL now regularly attends and the newly established European External Action Service (EEAS) alongside other key EU institutions and Partners as well as the Member States, the ERWG maintains its determination to advise qualitatively on how CEPOL can best serve this new European vision of security.

The ever growing importance of the Internal/External Security Nexus, the implementation of a European Law Enforcement Training Scheme, as well as the need to enhance the professional skills of EU Officers deployed to Civilian Crisis Management Operations are just examples of what CEPOL can contribute to.

The ERWG had the opportunity to discuss priorities for the years 2011 and 2012, which include, continuing the ongoing dialogue with Associated, Candidate and ENP countries as well as International and regional organisations. In particular, the ERWG reiterated the importance of concluding formal Cooperation Agreements with Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania.

Cooperation with other strategic partners such as China and India was also discussed, with a view to examine the possibility of enhancing CEPOL’s engagement with these important interlocutors, either via formal agreements or in the framework of ad-hoc initiatives and projects financed by the EU. Establishing cooperation with Russia will be looked at in the course of 2011.

Future project opportunities and the involvement of CEPOL in EU Calls for Proposals and other financial assistance instruments were also discussed.

Importantly, the efforts made by CEPOL to better integrating itself within the cluster of EU Justice and Home Affairs were examined, and the positive progress made was noted.

The ERWG’s next meeting will be in Estonia (7-8 July 2011) and Romania (7-8 November 2011).

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The 15th meeting of the Research and Science Working Group (RSWG) took place at the Ecole des Officiers de la Gendarmerie Nationale (EOGN) in Melun, France on 12-14 January 2011. Dr. Risto Honkonen, Head of the Research Department of the Finnish Police College, chaired the meeting for the first time. All delegates, including new member Dr. Katharina Weiss from Austria, were formally welcomed by the Director of the EOGN, General Saffray and his deputy.

Whilst preparing CEPOL research and science activities for 2011, the RSWG had the opportunity to discuss with invited guest Jose Alberto Ramirez, Spanish organisation team for this year’s CEPOL Research and Science Conference, crucial event details. One important outcome was the decision to bas the Conferences topics on “cybercrime, cyber-policing, and the challenge of social media”. A further relevant result is that for the first time the CEPOL Police Research and Science Conference will be open to a limited number of paying external participants.

Thanks to a decision adopted at the 22nd Governing Board, the European Police Science and Research Bulletin is now a permanent publication project belonging to the RSWG. Whilst working with the submissions received for the 5th issue, it was decided to be flexible with the length of contributions for future issues without however compromising the bulletin’s informative impetus.

Dividing into ‘task-forces’, the RSWG-members also worked on a variety of ongoing tasks and projects:

• Concept of the European Handbook of Police Science
• Concept of a future CEPOL Research Award
• Further developments for e-Net’s e-Library
• Strategy implementation plan

With CEPOL’s general strategic goals in mind, the group decided to assign ‘institutional liaisons’ with relevant European partner organisations in the field of police research and police science to individual members within the working group.

In order to allow the working group member’s to collaborate more efficiently, a new dedicated “platform” within e-Net’s LMS was introduced and handed over to the RSWG.

The next RSWG meeting will be hosted by Lithuania in April 2011.

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During the 21st Working Group on Learning (WGL) meeting held in Bramshill, UK, on 6-7 January 2011, the members present continued their brainstorming session on preferred futuring (see "Working Group on Learning to design its Preferred Futuring" news item) moderated by Dr. Zsolt Molnár, the working group’s Deputy Chair. The exercise concentrated on the 6th, 7th and 8th steps of the process.

To work the action plan, three virtual task forces were created within e-Net’s LMS to work out the priorities defined at step 5 of the process. The three “work packages” are:

• Access to on line learning moderated by Rossanna Farina.
• Creativity, pro-activity, innovation, structural changes, moderated by Piet de Brouwer.
• Supporting quality, moderated by Zsolt Molnar.

The support of two officers from the Secretariat: Julian ter Huurne, eLearning Officer and Leelo Kilg, Quality Management Officer, will be sought as their expertise can be useful to the exercise.

The meeting also discussed glossaries. It will be reported to the TRC that the WGL is ending this task. Glossaries are available on e-Net and the inventory of glossaries made by the Secretariat will be put in the LMS too. Contacts will be made to find further contributors and moderators.

The WGL further discussed an evaluation process of the “Train the Trainers” CEPOL activity. Peer review and looking at the outcomes of the activity’s evaluation should be the specific role of the WGL which should always bear in mind whether the learning goal is achieved or not.

Issues regarding a template for the creation of an inventory of police force organisations were discussed as was a proposal to set-up a Wiki to further support CEPOL’s Q13 initiative.

Two seats within the Working Group on Learning have recently been freed due to members moving on to new tasks. A call for nominations will be launched soon by the Secretariat.

The 22nd WGL meeting will be held in Genoa on 28 – 29 April 2011.

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The third and final part of the ISEC/CEPOL Exchange Programme ended in November 2010. The whole programme was implemented in three stages, starting in October 2009. During the programme, 147 senior police officers and police trainers from a total of 25 countries took part. The length of the exchange periods was usually between 12 – 14 calendar days for both police officers and trainers.

During the third exchange period, nearly all the exchangees had the role of both exchangee and tutor. During the first and second exchange periods, the feedback response rate was between 50-60% and overall, the feedback received was very positive. During the third exchange period, both exchangees and tutors were asked to provide their feedback via an online survey in order to increase responses and speed up the rate of feedback. The response rate was 90% (74 out of a possible 82). Follow-up feedback was mandatory during all exchange periods and was sent by email by the participants to their National Exchange Coordinators (NECs). From the NECs, it was forwarded to the Secretariat. For the third exchange period, there was an 85% response rate (70 responses in total). The feedback for the third and last exchange period was generally very positive and the higher rate of feedback did not influence the earlier results. The following are some results from the online survey for the third exchange period.

• 93% stated they succeeded in meeting the defined objectives to gain a better understanding of police standards and procedures in the host country
• 99% said they gained more understanding of the organisation of the law enforcement authorities and other bodies in the hosting country
• 93% strongly agreed or agreed that the objectives to exchange knowledge, experiences and best practices with their counterpart in the hosting country were fulfilled
• 65% stated they gained other knowledge from the exchange than the original objectives
• 83% stated they developed a professional network in the area of the relevant topics
• 92% agreed that the duration of the exchange period was sufficient to fulfill their objectives
• 94% were satisfied with the accommodation provided during the exchange
• 96% stated they were satisfied with the support and service received from the Secretariat

Where comments were encouraged, among them were: “Could not have been better”; “Perfect”; and “the hotel used was sufficient, but not more”. The use of the Learning Management System during the third exchange period was clearly a challenge for participants with 28% disagreeing that LMS is a very clear and user-friendly tool. Some work is needed in this area to prepare for the next Exchange Programme. From the follow-up feedback, it became apparent that potentially more than 100,000 police officers gained knowledge from the exchange programme through articles, lectures, meetings, and so on. It is possible to conclude from the positive feedback during all three exchange periods that not too many changes need to be made for the Exchange Programme.

Member States have already been encouraged to inform the Secretariat about their interest in sending participants, and how many, for the 2011 Exchange Programme.

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The ISEC/CEPOL Exchange Programme for 2009/2010 ended in November 2010. During the programme, 147 senior police officers and police trainers from a total of 25 countries took part. The ongoing evaluation shows that the Exchange Programmes objectives were met:

• To promote and develop coordination, cooperation and mutual understanding among law enforcement agencies and other bodies in EU Member States and countries;
• To exchange knowledge, experience and best practice between Member States and third countries;
• To develop professional networks around specific topics identified by EU institutions and other bodies;
• To provide the opportunity for improvement on a personal, organisational and European level;
• To promote cascading of knowledge within specific expertise areas at national level;
• To promote international police and training expertise on specific priority topics in Europe;
• To improve understanding of police practices and training in other European countries.

From the latest online survey the response rate was 90% and was generally very positive. Here are some examples from the latest online survey in November 2010.

All participants said that they agreed they have gained a better understanding of the police standards and procedures in the hosting country. Only one (of 82 exchangees) disagrees that they exchanged knowledge, experiences and best practices with their counterparts in the hosting country. All (except two who slightly disagreed) stated they developed their professional network in the relevant topics, and only one disagreed that this was an opportunity to improve oneself on an organizational, personal and European level.

The Exchange Programme 2011

To read more about CEPOL and the Exchange Programmes please visit:
www.cepol.europa.eu/index.php?id=exchange-programme.
If you have more questions about the upcoming Exchange Programme send your questions to:
expro@cepol.europa.eu.

Member States have already informed CEPOL about their interest in sending participants and how many on the next Exchange. The 2011 Exchange Programme will be funded by CEPOL Secretariat and a request to the Member States for staffing the programme has been issued.

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The 22nd Governing Board meeting, the second one to be hosted by the Belgian Presidency, took place in Limelette, Belgium on 8 – 9 December 2010.

The main topics discussed included:

• The CEPOL Strategy
• The Secretariat Activity Report September – November 2010
• Status Report of Multi-annual Plan
• Audit of the Court of Auditors
• Audit of the Internal Audit Service
• Planning for 2011
• Planning for 2012
• CEPOL’s Five-year evaluation and report

The Governing Board adopted a number of decisions, including:

• Meeting calendar for first half of 2011
• New Policy Paper on External Relations
• Composition of the Research and Science Working Group
• The draft Common Curricula on Money Laundering, including Trainers’ and Study Guide
• The proposal on the European Police Science and Research Bulletin
• Amendments to the 31/2009/GB e-Net Administration

The Chair of the Governing Board announced that the cooperation agreements with Croatia and Turkey had been signed.

The Director presented:

• Feedback from the CONT meeting that took place in Brussels on 30 November. The Parliament gave a discharge for the year 2007 to the former CEPOL Director. The Director has received an invitation for Parliamentary Committee regarding the discharge of the year 2009
• The Secretariat Activity Report (September and November 2010)
• The updated progress report and audited implementation of plan in line with the findings from the Internal Audit Service
• Feedback from the Heads of Agencies meeting that took place in The Hague on 26 November 2010 and presented the draft report on implementation of the JHA Agencies Multilateral Cooperation.

The Deputy Director presented:

• Exchange Programme 2011
• Concept of the Preliminary Work Programme 2012
• Summary of the proposals from the Member States and the Stakeholders for the planning 2012
• Cybercrime – Cooperation with Europol
• Centralisation of the booking of flights for CEPOL meetings
• Proposal for the invitation of external participants for CEPOL activities
• CEPOL’s Five-year evaluation progress update

The Head of Corporate Service Department presented:

• The document on the Information Management Strategy, ICT Strategy and Communications Strategy
• Audit by the Court of Auditors
• Audit by the Internal Audit Service
• General situation on the Budget 2011
• System of Provisional Twelfth
• Annual Work Programme 2011
• Budget 2011
• Improvement of the Budget Structure 2011 and 2012
• Preliminary Budget 2012

The 23rd (extra) Governing Board meeting will take place in Bramshill, UK on 23 February 2011. The 24th Governing Board meeting will take place in Budapest, Hungary on 9 – 10 March 2011.

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Today, issue 4 of the CEPOL European Police Science and Research Bulletin has been published. In this issue of the bulletin, readers will find seven original contributions, written by experts from Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Malta and the United Kingdom.

Comments and/or submissions for the next issue should please be sent to:

research-bulletin@cepol.europa.eu.

Closing date for submissions to the next issue is 15 April 2011

The 4th issues of the European Police Science and Research Bulletin, as well as previous ones, can be downloaded from the “Research & Science Publications” section of this website.

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The recent CEPOL SIRENE Advanced Training was hosted by the French Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Police (Lyon) on 6-10 December 2010. This, the second advanced training course for SIRENE operators, brought together 29 participants from 25 Member States in the Schengen area.

The objective of the course was to create the first "Factsheet” referring to article 95 of the Schengen agreement, as a practical tool for the operators dealing with European Arrest Warrants.

With the diverse experiences of participants, the advanced course offered an excellent opportunity to develop an operationally applicable document to reflect the constraints of SIRENE bureaus in the Member States, subject to different legal systems and procedures.

The activity was prepared and organised by the International Relations Department of the French National Police College. It was moderated by Thomas Meyer, SIRENE training manager with the assistance of three SIRENE trainers from Belgium, Finland and the Czech Republic

Still on the SIRENE theme, on 21-22 November 2010, 14 representatives from CEPOL and the SIRENE Training Committee met at the French National Police College in order to evaluate of the first two years of SIRENE operators’ training under the CEPOL’s umbrella.

Detlef Schröder, Deputy Director of CEPOL and Jean Marie Fiquet, Head of International Relations at the National College, wanted to bring together the different key players of CEPOL and the SIRENE training committee in order to take stock of ongoing activities, define and set priorities for the future in four main areas: communications, courses, capacity building for trainers and distance learning.

The recommendations of the group were presented at the 22nd CEPOL Governing Board meeting and were adopted in the Annual Work Programme for 2011.

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The CEPOL conference ‘Police Cooperation with Neighbouring Countries’ took place in Rome on 1-3 December 2010.

The conference was attended by 49 representatives from 24 countries: Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Lebanon, Moldova, the Palestinian Authority, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives from the European Commission, Frontex, OSCE and the PCC SSE Secretariat.

An analysis of the CEPOL strategy and the Stockholm Programme’s impact on police training was delivered by the CEPOL Director, Dr Ferenc Bánfi and Fabio Marini from the European Commission’s Directorate-General Home Affairs.

Italian experts Raffaella Campanati and Germana Ampanati di Falco presented the “European Neighbouring policy paper” and gave an overview of the new financial rules and funding opportunities in Europe.

Maurice Petit, AEPC President, illustrated the association’s cooperation with CEPOL and the police academies of the European Neighbouring Countries, while Catherine Lamothe-Andre, CEPOL Secretariat, gave a speech about the initiatives of the agency.

True to CEPOL’s style, participants were also the leading actors during the national presentations. Great work was done by the colleague from Georgia, Madlen Khelashvili and the working groups were well conducted by Stephanie Boisnard and Wolfgang Haeseker.

The conference provided a valuable opportunity to underline the Neighbouring Countries’ needs in the area of cooperation for police training purposes and the contribution that the EU can make through CEPOL, the European Police College.

One of the proposals was to dedicate the next European Neighbourhood Conference on a specific topic and of course all the participants underlined the great opportunity the conference provided to meet people and share ideas.

Supported by France, Germany and CEPOL Secretariat with contributions from AEPC (European Association of Police Colleges), the conference was managed by Salvatore Siena, the Deputy Chair of the CEPOL External Relations Working Group.

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CEPOL course “Southeast Europe Organised Crime Organisations – OCTA Related” was organised by the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interior, General Directorate of Human Resources Management on 8-11 November 2010. Taking into consideration the fact that threats of organised crime are a real challenge for police officers in the Member States, the aim of the course was particularly to deepen the cooperation between specialists involved in combating this phenomenon.

Held at Hotel Royal in Bucharest, the course attracted 17 participants from ten Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain and United Kingdom) with experts from Estonia, Italy, France, Romania and Europol also taking part.

After the official opening of the course by the Deputy General Director of the General Directorate of Human Resources Management, Dragoş-Nicolae Ploeşteanu, the Romanian Governing Board voting member, Radu Todoran, presented CEPOL’s mission and vision. CEPOL has a well defined role regarding the support and development of a European approach to the main problems facing the Member States in the fight against crime, crime prevention, the maintenance of law, order and public security, in particular the cross-border dimension.

During the course, participants learnt about the following topics:

• “About CEPOL”, presented by Radu Todoran from the Romanian General Directorate of Human Resources Management
• “Lex Ferenda (future law) on legal framework improvement in preventing and combating organised crime”, presented by Ligia Pintilie from the Romanian Police Academy “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
• “The criminological particulars of multinational corporation fraud” presented by Mihai Marcoci from the Romanian Police Academy “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
• “Comparative Study: Victims of trafficking in human beings and victims of abuse” presented by Corina Zaharia from the Romanian Institute of Studies for Public Order
• “The threat of organised crime on South-east of Europe” presented by Roberto Gonella, Europol
• “International projection of organised crime groups operating in South-east Europe” presented by Guido Coppola from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, Criminal Police Central Directorate , International Police Cooperation Service
• “Drug Roads” presented by Michel Felkay, from the French Regional Police Attaché (Croatia)
• “Criminal networks in the Baltic Sea Region” presented by Risto Pullat, from the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.
• “Means of drugs’” concealment presented by Ioana Mărgărit from the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police
• “Specific means of investigating trafficking in human being cases” presented by Iulia Popescu from the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police
• “Victims’ identification and protection: Traffickers’ identification and punishment” presented by Silviu Pitran from the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police

Silviu Văcaru, Chief of Countering Organised Crime Brigade of Craiova within the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police, stated: “We are the witness to some spectacular changes that have taken place or are about to emerge in Europe: Christianity is loosing importance, some of the political ideologies, such as Communism, were or are being replaced by new ones, some Nazism ideologies that were considered to be dead are experiencing a rebirth, national borders are disappearing and what is being created is a geographical territory for almost 500 million people who can travel unabashed in all Europe.”

He added: “We can easily deduce that the European area is favourable for drug traffickers; traffickers in human beings and money launderers. CEPOL has the most important role: to create a strong network which will incorporate police officers specialized in combating crime organisations.”

During the four days training activity the participants had the possibility to exchange their experiences and knowledge in the field of the continuous fight against organised crime.

Participants’ also experienced a visit to the SECI Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime which has its headquarters in Bucharest, Romania. From the very beginning the officials mentioned the mission of the center “We assemble the power of 13 nations’ law enforcement agencies and add the value of experts, thus building together a strong platform against criminality. We commit ourselves to sustain the Southeast European countries declared combat against organised crime and to strengthen the law enforcement capabilities for countering organised crime.”

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CEPOL’s TOPSPOC VIII course attracted 24 participants, mainly from the Member States, but also from Europol, Interpol, Norway and Iceland. Module 4, the final module in 2010, was held at Instituto Superior Polícia Judiciária e Ciências Criminais (ISPJCC), the Judiciary Police School at Loures, Portugal, on 22 -26 November 2010. Modules 1 to 3 were held in France, Estonia and Austria respectively during 2010.

The objectives for Module 4 were that participants present their findings both orally and in writ-ing; to report on the personal and group experiences of the ‘Action Learning’ process and how this developed throughout the four modules; to devise methods to disseminate the conclusions about their topics; to write a personal action plan for continuation of Action Learning and topic interest.

During the five-day Module 4 course, participants worked together and presented their results and conclusions. The coaches for the course were Piet de Brouwer, Belgium, Guy Vinet, France, and Marek Link, Estonia. Participants had four assignments:

• Topic 1 ‐ Police leadership in Europe in the future (2020) ‐ how does police leadership need to develop in order to scope future challenges and changes?;
• Topic 2 – Common professional standards for police serving the citizen in Europe;
• Topic 3 – The European policy on the fight against organised crime that is based on optimal use of available tools;
• Topic 4 – Improving the practise of cross-border cooperation through monitor-ing and evaluation.

Willy Bruggemann, Belgium, provided feedback on the group presentations on topics 2 to 4 on the third day whilst Eduardo Ferreira, Portugal, provided feedback for topic 1 on the fourth day.

Also on the fourth day, participants and coaches were welcomed by the Portuguese Minister of Justice, Alberto Martins, in the Ministry of Justice in Lisbon.

On the fifth day, and for the first time in the last four years, Detlef Schröder, CEPOL Deputy Di-rector, closed the course and assisted with the final feedback given by the participants and coaches. He said: “The course is important in four modules to brick the group network.”

He added that there would be the possibility of inviting one of the participants to the next Governing Board meeting to present the main conclusions of the training course as a future tool to be taken in account.

Notes:
The overall aims of the CEPOL TOPSPOC four-module course include:

• The use and promotion of the learning gained on the course through ‘Action Learning’ for personal and professional development to benefit participants’ national colleagues;
• To describe the objectives of the subject area selected by each participant;
• To transpose the objectives of the subject area in their own country;
• To explain how the subject area has impacted upon their daily work process;
• To utilize the network established during the course to enhance international police co-operation;
• To share and apply best practices discussed during the course.

The CEPOL TOPSPOC VIII course had 4 Modules:

• Module 1 was organised by France in Lyon on 1-5 March 2010.
• Module 2 was organised by Estonia in Tallinn on 31 May – 4 June 2010
• Module 3 was organised by Austria in Traiskirchen on 20-24 September
• Module 4 was organised by Portugal in Loures on 22-26 November 2010

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Legal and organisational tools for tracing, seizing and confiscating assets, as well as the latest types of fraud, are some of the topics covered in a CEPOL course held in Riga, Latvia on 4-8 October 2010. Twenty three participants from 15 countries took active part in the seminar, exchanging experiences and examples of good practice associated with fighting fraud and recovering assets.

Hosted by the Latvian State Police at their headquarters, course participants enjoyed presentations from trainers representing Interpol, Eurojust, Portugal, Denmark and United Kingdom. All presentations were followed by discussions and supported by workshops that focused on proposing possible solutions to fighting fraud as well as tracing, seizing and confiscating assets.

The courses principal objectives were:

1. Obtaining knowledge on advanced fraud scam trends;
2. Sharing knowledge and experience regarding methods implemented by fraudsters to secure their free use of proceeds from crime.

José Luís Pereira Braguês, Financial Intelligence Unit of the Portuguese Criminal Police and Jakob T. Overgaard, Serious Economic Crime/ Danish National Police, presented national approaches to tracing, seizing and confiscating proceeds from crime implemented in Portugal and Denmark respectively.

Value added tax schemes, advanced fraud schemes and the use of off-shore companies to launder fraud proceeds were three topics presented by Katie Balls, Economic Crime Directorate, City of London Police.

Europol representative Burkhard Mühl presented “European legislation and initiatives in the field of asset recovery” highlighting a Council of the European Union decision about “Asset Recovery Offices” and describing it as “an important `institutional brick` in the EU framework for confiscation of criminal proceeds”. Ladislav Hamran, Slovakian Eurojust representative, delivered an in-depth report on the role of Eurojust in international legal cooperation.

The delegates from Ireland and the Netherlands had the extra benefit of being able to discuss a common case that is currently suspended in their Member States. Meeting eye-to-eye and addressing some of the cases more intricate issues brought new ideas and possible clues that have resulted in their re-examining the case since the course finished.

The seminar was organised by the State Police of Latvia with organisational support of from the State Police College and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

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Hosted by the Cyprus Police Academy, CEPOL course "Domestic Violence International Aspects & Experiences" attracted 21 representatives from 15 Member States and CEPOL Associated countries to Nicosia in Cyprus on 8-11 November 2010.

The majority of participants were experts in the field of domestic violence and deal with such cases on a daily basis. Although CEPOL courses usually focus on the European Dimension of the activity topics, this particular course tackled international aspects of the problem, giving the participants an even broader scope to gain from.

The course benefited from the knowledge of experts from Poland and Cyprus, as well as Malta and Spain that were also involved in the overall preparation of the course.

On day one of the course, the Cypriot Commissioner of Children’s Rights, Leda Koursoumba addressed the participants and presented the efforts and actions taken in Cyprus with regards to domestic violence and child abuse.

The overall aim of the course was to further law enforcement and training standards by providing specialised knowledge and sharing experiences on methods of policing domestic violence. During the initial stages of the course the participants were given the opportunity to:

• Foster an awareness of the CEPOL Common Curriculum “Policing Domestic Violence”;
• Develop a greater understanding of specific aspects of domestic violence;
• Share European experiences with regards to the role of the police and interdisciplinary cooperation in dealing with cases of domestic violence;
• Discuss good practice models and challenges in policing domestic violence and providing adequate police training;
• Understand, appreciate and overcome difficulties in handling domestic violence victims;
• Gain awareness on assessing the risk factors involved in domestic violence incidents;
• Develop an awareness of the use of information technology with regards to dealing with domestic violence.

The course was beneficial to both experts and participants, since they had the opportunity to work in a multi-cultural environment and exchange ideas regarding practices implemented in order to deal with domestic violence cases. Each participant’s expertise and competence contributed positively to fulfilling the course objectives.

Organised in an effort to enable the exchange experiences and possibly identify common standards that could be adopted by all Member States to prevent this social phenomenon, the participants enjoyed this opportunity to identify diverse issues in European Police methods.

Blagorodna Makeva Naydenova, Chief Inspector and lawyer from Bulgaria, said: "This course was perfectly organised. I had the opportunity to collect fruitful information concerning police work as well as find answers on how to improve our national legislation in order to deal with domestic violence. Thanks everybody.”

The Chief of Cyprus Police, Michael Papageorgiou in his closing speech, said: "I am sure that you will agree with me that the course has been highly useful and productive as you were provided with the opportunity to exchange views and ideas on many important issues. I am confident that each one of you is leaving this course wiser and more determined to take action in the fight against domestic violence. The ideas discussed and presented during this course constitute another tool in confronting this social phenomenon.”

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CEPOL – European Police College and the Turkish National Police Institute today signed a cooperation agreement at the Turkish Delegation to the European Union (EU) in Brussels which underlines the importance of law enforcement training in the framework of the overall European approach to security and in the context of EU enlargement.

The cooperation agreement was signed on behalf of Turkey by Mustafa Doğan Kılıç, Deputy Director General of Police Forces, and by Dr Ferenc Bánfi, CEPOL Director, and Jean Marie Van Branteghem, CEPOL Governing Board Chair.

The agreement will enable senior police officers in Turkey to contribute to CEPOL activities as trainers, as well as participate in key CEPOL training courses, exchange best practices and research findings, access CEPOL’s electronic network and take part in CEPOL’s exchange programme. In addition, a Turkish representative will be invited to attend CEPOL’s External Relations Working Group meetings.

Dr Ferenc Bánfi said: "The cooperation agreement will not only benefit officers in Turkey, but also benefit senior law enforcement officers in all Member States. CEPOL’s main mission is to contribute to European Police Cooperation through learning and the signature of this important agreement is a further step in the fulfilment of its institutional tasks.”

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The European Police College (CEPOL) and the Croatian Police Academy (Policijska akademija) today signed a cooperation agreement at the Mission of Croatia to the European Union (EU) in Brussels. The agreement underlines the importance of law enforcement training in the framework of the overall European approach to security and in the context of EU enlargement.

The cooperation agreement was signed by Dr Zvonimir Dujmović, Dean of the Croatian Police Academy, Dr Ferenc Bánfi, CEPOL Director, and Jean Marie Van Branteghem, CEPOL Governing Board Chair.

The agreement will enable senior police officers in Croatia to contribute to CEPOL activities as trainers, as well as participate in key CEPOL training courses, exchange research findings, access CEPOL’s electronic network and take part in CEPOL’s exchange programme. In addition, a Croatian representative will be invited to attend CEPOL’s External Relations Working Group meetings.

Dr Ferenc Bánfi said: "The cooperation agreement will not only benefit officers in Croatia, but also benefit senior law enforcement officers in all Member States. Croatia is on track to join the EU in the near future and I am delighted that we can begin our cooperation today.”

Dean Zvonimir Dujmović added: “Highly-trained senior police officers with high-level education play crucial role in ensuring rule of law and security of citizens. In this prospect and with a view to Croatia’s future membership of the EU, signing of this agreement will enable the Croatian Police Academy to actively participate in the work of European Police College and to enhance the exchange of the best practices.”

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The CEPOL course “Crime Control and Road Safety” was held at the School of the National Republican Guard, in Lisbon, Portugal, on 26-29 October 2010. Organised by the National Republican Guard of Portugal and supported by the French National Gendarmerie, this event attracted 38 delegates – proving to be a very popular topic.

Crime on public roads has been an emerging phenomenon in Europe with social, economic and political consequences, associated to the loss of lives every year on European roads. These crimes include, among others, driving without a license, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, dangerous driving, tachograph fraud and manipulation, transportation of dangerous goods, all of which are dangerous and can cause road incidents. Due to their classification as public security problems they need specialised police intervention.

With this in mind, and with the overall objective of updating knowledge on road crimes and traffic safety as an interdisciplinary field, the course had three main goals:

• The first goal was related to diagnosing the problem of traffic accidents and road crimes in the Member States represented at the course;
• The second was related to research of existing scientific and technical knowledge about the phenomenon;
• The third was related to established strategic, operational and coordination measures, that contribute to preventing and reducing the phenomenon’s consequences, from a policing point of view.

Fifteen participants from nine Member States, 12 lecturers from a further four European nations and a total of 11 participating bodies, including one university, eight public agencies and two private companies, were all involved in sharing knowledge and expertise during the courses presentations and workshops.

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On 8-12 November 2010 the Police Training Centre in Vienna hosted the 5th seminar for SIRENE Operators within the CEPOL framework. Continuing on from previous seminars in Lyon (FR) and Maribor (SI), this seminar attracted 35 participants from 22 Member States and CEPOL Associated Countries Norway and Switzerland.

CEPOL, aware that Bulgaria and Romania join Schengen in 2011, organised these seminars to allow officers from across Europe to be trained in cooperation and exchange of data in the increasing Schengen Area.

After the welcome speech given by Gerhard Haberler, representative of the Austrian CEPOL team and of the hosting institute, Andreas Wagner, Austrian Schengen content expert, introduced the history of Schengen followed by the development of the Schengen Legal Base and the Schengen Information System.

Split into four groups, led by experts form Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Spain, the participants then concentrated their efforts on the following articles of the SIRENE Manual in order to get to grips with some of the more complex aspects of procedures and best practices:

• Article 95 SIC – Arrest and extradition procedures on wanted persons;
• Article 96 and 109 SIC – Residence ban and data protection;
• Article 97, 98 and 99 SIC – Establishing whereabouts and discreet surveillance;
• Article 100 SIC – Lost and stolen objects.

Marius Daniel Constantin, Romanian SIRENE Operator, attending a CEPOL SIRENE seminar for the first time, said: “I would like to emphasise that I am very glad to see that all tasks implemented in our offices are very similar to those implemented in the other operational Member States. The seminar was very useful for me and the others, because we got to see how procedures are applied. Now I can connect theory to practice. My experience was enriched by the know-how of other SIRENE Operators.”

Dr Edmond Gégény, SIRENE Bureau Hungary, stated: “The organisers created a good atmosphere and good learning environment for the participants. It was also very important professionally for the trainers to acquaint themselves with the different approaches taken in the Member States. Being able to enlarge our network and working relationships is always an advantage.”

On the last day of the seminar, an excursion to the Austrian SIRENE Office was organised where the participants were given the possibility to see how the information system is used by Austrian colleagues. Participants also had the possibility to reflect on and discuss with the officers on duty their experiences and problems in their daily work.

The next “Training for SIRENE Officer (Basic)” seminar is planned for the second quarter of 2011 in Slovakia.

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On 26-29 October 2010 Aranjuez in Spain was the destination for the CEPOL course entitled “Airport Security”. The aim of the course was to study EU regulations on airport security, analyse the most important threats to airport security and evaluate the implementation of security measures and methods in airports. Twenty-four participants from 15 Member States and representatives from Frontex took part.

During the course’s opening, the Head of the Guardia Civil Fiscal and Borders Department, Santiago Macarrón, addressed the participants underlining the importance of strengthening the cooperation of police forces and civil aviation agencies in Europe in order to be make airport security more effective.

The first day of the course was dedicated to several airport security issues. Arnaldo Teles, European Commission, talked about the European Community Aviation Security Regulatory Framework and was followed by a presentation on “Security Audits in Spain”, given by Ernesto Martín, Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aerea (AESA).

Other lectures delivered during the day included “Management of Airport Security” by Ignacio Alcázar, Guardia Civil Airport Security Department; “Border Control in Airports” by Jesús Montero, National Police Force; “The Terrorist Threat to Civil Aviation” by Manuel Navarrete, Guardia Civil and “Training in Airport Security” by Pablo Jiménez, Ingeniería de Sistemas para la Defensa de España (ISDEFE).

On day two, the participants had the opportunity to visit Madrid Barajas airport. Lieutenant Colonel Francisco Espadas, Head of the Guardia Civil Unit in Barajas, illustrated different key elements of airport security, such as the CGA (Airport Management Centre), luggage control and screening check points, SATE (screening of hold baggage) and Border control check points.

On day three the course supporters Mickael Terosier and Antonio Lima, from France and Portugal respectively, shared their country’s perspective on airport security. “Tests in the Implementation of Security Measures” was presented by Mickael Terosier whilst Antonio Lima introduced “Crisis Management in airports”.

In addition to give a different perspective, two representatives from the Israeli airline “El Al” talked about the concept of “Unpredictability”. Other lectures delivered were “Special Units for Tackling Air Kidnapping” by Iván Marín, Guardia Civil and “New Technologies Applied to Airport Security” by Manuel Templado (AENA).

Last but not least, the final course activity was a workshop for all participants entitled “The Framework of Airport Security”. The course was officially closed by Colonel Ángel Arancón, Director of the Spanish Guardia Civil Officers Academy.

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Traditionally CEPOL carried out surveys and questionnaires such as course and trainer evaluations using paper-based methods. In order to explore possibilities to improve the design, implementation and analysis of these surveys, a pilot was carried out in cooperation with the Estonian Public Service Academy in which the online Open Source survey application LimeSurvey was used. During this pilot, the emphasis was on assessing how what the participants had learned at CEPOL courses, seminars and conferences implemented in 2009, was being applied in the workplace.

In this, according to Kirkpatrick’s model, third level evaluation, participants of CEPOL activities, as well as their line managers, were approached 3-6 months after each activity. In 2008, this was done manually via email; in 2009 LimeSurvey was used. By using LimeSurvey, an improvement in the response level was observed: from 42% in 2008 to 57% in 2009.

On a smaller scale, surveys carried out during the pilot period have proven useful for setting-up agendas for meetings. Additionally CEPOL’s Learning Management System (LMS) has been looked at during an intermediate LMS assessment. During this assessment, the way courses are supported on the LMS was evaluated by key organisers and facilitators which resulted in a more robust design of CEPOL’s course image and improved support to course managers, administrators and National e-Net Managers (see full report – login required).

In the autumn of 2010, the online survey pilot ended. Its main outcome was that for a network organisation such as CEPOL, there are many advantages. These include the fact it is easier to reach of target audiences, the response rates are higher and the subjects provide more qualitative data. As a result, CEPOL has installed the online survey application and will extend its use to the Exchange Programme.

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CEPOL course entitled “Illegal Immigration” was held in Lognes, France on 19 – 22 October 2010. The French CEPOL Team at the National Police Sub-Department of Training and Development of Competences hosted and organised this CEPOL activity with substantial cooperation from the French Border Police Directorate, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Europol.

The aim of the course was to deal with one of the European countries most pressing matters: the fight against illegal immigration networks. Twenty three law enforcement officers took part in this course from 15 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The course was officially opened by Emile Pérez, Director of International Cooperation, Frédéric Perrin, Director of the Border Police, and Martine Nauté, Sub-Director of Training and Development of Competences.

Over the four-day course, many topics were discussed including the recent evolution of illegal immigration, counter-structures and measures as well as illegal immigration routes through Europe with a particular focus on Calais in the north of France and the Balkan routes. Further items covered and presented included details of border controls in “Channel” trains between the UK and France, in airports (with a visit to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport Border Police), operational investigation techniques including technical equipment used and finally international and European cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration, notably Europol’s response in relation to facilitated illegal immigration.

Many speakers and moderators contributed to create fruitful discussions and exchanges. On the third day, Stéphane Gay, Office Central pour la Répression de l’Immigration irrégulière et de l’Emploi d’étrangers Sans Titre (OCRIEST) and two officers from the French Border Police, Hubert Gattet and Jean-Thomas Lenegre, conducted workshops in which participants could exchange their experiences and knowledge in the field of falsified documents, investigation techniques used against networks and new technologies at their disposal in the ongoing struggle against illegal immigration.

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“Practical Research and Research Practice – Police Science into a New Decade” was the title of the CEPOL Police Research and Science Conference 2010, organised by the Norwegian Police University College and the CEPOL Secretariat in Oslo, Norway on 26-28 October 2010.

Fifty-four participants and 14 experts from 24 different countries, Europol and Interpol took part in the conference. The participants were offered lectures from specialised researchers and could actively take part in discussions and working groups.

Several topics which cross the borders of police research, were presented during the conference:

• Professor Wouter Stol’s research on operational police work in Europe – Policing the Streets of Europe
• Professor Tore Bjørgo and Dr. SIlje Fekjær’s research on Police students– who are they?
• Gavin Oxburgh and DSC Trond Myklebust – Investigative Interviewing of Victims and Suspects
• Dr. Tim Grant – Developing Investigative Linguistics as a Forensic Science
• Dr. Karl Ask – Criminal investigation: Motivation, Emotion and Cognition in the Processing of Evidence

The conference’s other topics also made important contributions to the development of a European Platform in police research. A constant “European Dimension” could be felt during the conference which was underlined by great discussions and insightful participants. Important new considerations were reached during discussions regarding successful and legal investigative methods. Precious new ideas were also shared in the fields of illegal immigration and use of firearms within police forces. These ideas and considerations, seen in the context of European police culture, are fundamental for the future of police related research in Europe.

During the conference CEPOL discovered a potential new partner for specific courses and/or support to research projects. The International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iIIRG) was formed in 2007 and is a worldwide network of professionals, with collaborative interests, working with international bodies committed to improving investigative interviewing and ensuring all improvements are underpinned by a robust evidence base.

The Bologna process focuses on the necessity of mobility as a means to understanding different cultures, necessary to increase the quality of education and research. The European Union is striving to create a single ‘European Research Area’ that encourages knowledge transfer through networks of world-class European researchers. This conference was a large step towards that goal.

Further information about the Police Research and Science Conference 2010 can be found by registered users in the LMS section of CEPOL’s e-Net.

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During the 20th Working Group on Learning (WGL) meeting held in Wokefield Park near Reading, UK, on 29-30 October 2010, the eight members present supported by the group’s secretary, continued their brainstorming session on preferred futuring* (see note) moderated by Dr. Zsolt Molnár, the working group’s new Deputy Chair. The exercise concentrated on the 5th and 6th steps of the process “from vision to action” and was an opportunity for all members to “design” their preferred future, rather than just “project” it. A tour de table gave everyone the chance to contribute to the brainstorming session, from two different prospective: “Me, Myself and I” and “the Working Group on Learning”. The outcome generated a priority list of topics to which focus should be given. Particular attention should be paid to the following items:

• Creativity,
• Structural changes,
• Niche-markets,
• Access to on-line learning,
• Supporting quality

The meeting also discussed the “revised” questionnaire for line managers issued by the Secretariat under mandate of the Annual Programme Committee (APC). Three members worked on this issue and revised the proposal for the Training and Research Committee (TRC). The results of the Post Course Evaluation Questionnaire (PCEQ) for Line Managers are used to measure level 3 of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation system: the behavioral level. In the WGL’s opinion, the way of working proposed in the PCEQ for Line Managers is an efficient, combined solution to the problems detected. Finally, the WGL recommends that the Secretariat start working with the new revised PCEQ for Line Managers and regularly revise the outcomes, so that the PCEQ keeps reflecting the actual answers from the Line Managers. Adding an indication of how long completing the questionnaire might take to its introduction text would also prove beneficial.

The WGL continued an evaluation process of the “Train the trainers” CEPOL activity. The course should develop a conscious didactic approach, a vocational approach focusing on police and law enforcement authorities, and aim at creating common knowledge. The activity should be based on the competency profile for trainers, elaborated by the WGL which clearly lists the requirements. The Chair drew the focus to the activity’s educational efficiency: “which method is good for what?” and “Is there a lack of content?” As the WGL is a contributor of content to this activity, it was proposed that at least one member of the group attend the activity in 2011, so that lessons learned from previous experience not go lost.

The group will also reconsider the Glossary issue and will come back with a proposal after further enquiries are made by the working group and the Secretariat.

Note: Preferred Futuring is a method of strategic, long range planning that is especially effective in non-profit organisations where incentive and reward is more intrinsic than in business. Created by Dr. Lawrence Lippitt, Preferred Futuring is a whole system change methodology. It enables an organisation to plan for and construct the future they want and inspire the passion and energy to follow through and get there. The Futuring model focuses on core values. It aligns the pursuit of operational and performance excellence with our mission. It is based on the truth that all stakeholders can and must participate meaningfully in the present and future states of our organisation. The process contains eight clear and simple steps:

1. Our History; A Focused Review: How and why did we get where we are? In Step One, a brief historical “scan” is performed, sharing what we know throughout the decades of our history. One summarizes lessons learned and consequences: circumstances that made us who we are.
2. Our Current Situation: An Assessment: What’s working…. and what’s not? In Step Two, one assesses whether we are doing the right things and how well we are doing them.
3. Mission, Values and Beliefs: Identifying what is important? Who are we? What guiding stars will direct our future? In Step Three, one looks at the results of the Organisational Assessment data, determines ones mission and core values.
4. Forecasting Events, Developments and Trends: Identifying Future Factors: What things are on the horizon that may impact our future? In Step Four one scans the horizon for things that may be coming that will impact the future.
5. Our Preferred Future: Creating the Vision: What is the future we want to create? In Step Five one evaluates and summarizes the suggestions of members and creates a preferred vision for our future.
6. Translating Future Visions into Action Goals: What achievements will be made in creating our vision? In Step Six, one creates goals that represent the components needed to achieve the vision.
7. Developing a Plan for Action: What strategies will support the achievement of the goal? In Step Seven, we create strategies and actions to achieve the goals.
8. Working the Plan: Putting the plan and the people in place and working the plan. In Step Eight, one creates and maintains the infrastructure to carry out ones plans.

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During the 20th WGL meeting held in Wokefield Park near Reading, UK, on 29-30 October 2010, the eight members present supported by the group’s secretary, continued their brainstorming session on preferred futuring* (see note) moderated by Dr. Zsolt Molnár, the working group’s new Deputy Chair. The exercise concentrated on the 5th and 6th steps of the process “from vision to action” and was an opportunity for all members to “design” their preferred future, rather than just “project” it. A tour de table gave everyone the chance to contribute to the brainstorming session, from two different prospective: “Me, Myself and I” and “the Working Group on Learning”. The outcome generated a priority list of topics to which focus should be given. Particular attention should be paid to the following items:

• Creativity,
• Structural changes,
• Niche-markets,
• Access to on-line learning,
• Supporting quality

The meeting also discussed the “revised” questionnaire for line managers issued by the Secretariat under mandate of the Annual Programme Committee (APC). Three members worked on this issue and revised the proposal for the Training and Research Committee (TRC). The results of the Post Course Evaluation Questionnaire (PCEQ) for Line Managers are used to measure level 3 of Kirkpatrick’s evaluation system: the behavioral level. In the WGL’s opinion, the way of working proposed in the PCEQ for Line Managers is an efficient, combined solution to the problems detected. Finally, the WGL recommends that the Secretariat start working with the new revised PCEQ for Line Managers and regularly revise the outcomes, so that the PCEQ keeps reflecting the actual answers from the Line Managers. Adding an indication of how long completing the questionnaire might take to its introduction text would also prove beneficial.

The WGL continued an evaluation process of the “Train the trainers” CEPOL activity. The course should develop a conscious didactic approach, a vocational approach focusing on police and law enforcement authorities, and aim at creating common knowledge. The activity should be based on the competency profile for trainers, elaborated by the WGL which clearly lists the requirements. The Chair drew the focus to the activity’s educational efficiency: “which method is good for what?” and “Is there a lack of content?” As the WGL is a contributor of content to this activity, it was proposed that at least one member of the group attend the activity in 2011, so that lessons learned from previous experience not go lost.

The group will also reconsider the Glossary issue and will come back with a proposal after further enquiries are made by the working group and the Secretariat.

Note: Preferred Futuring is a method of strategic, long range planning that is especially effective in non-profit organisations where incentive and reward is more intrinsic than in business. Created by Dr. Lawrence Lippitt, Preferred Futuring is a whole system change methodology. It enables an organisation to plan for and construct the future they want and inspire the passion and energy to follow through and get there. The Futuring model focuses on core values. It aligns the pursuit of operational and performance excellence with our mission. It is based on the truth that all stakeholders can and must participate meaningfully in the present and future states of our organisation. The process contains eight clear and simple steps:

1. Our History; A Focused Review: How and why did we get where we are? In Step One, a brief historical “scan” is performed, sharing what we know throughout the decades of our history. One summarizes lessons learned and consequences: circumstances that made us who we are.
2. Our Current Situation: An Assessment: What’s working…. and what’s not? In Step Two, one assesses whether we are doing the right things and how well we are doing them.
3. Mission, Values and Beliefs: Identifying what is important? Who are we? What guiding stars will direct our future? In Step Three, one looks at the results of the Organisational Assessment data, determines ones mission and core values.
4. Forecasting Events, Developments and Trends: Identifying Future Factors: What things are on the horizon that may impact our future? In Step Four one scans the horizon for things that may be coming that will impact the future.
5. Our Preferred Future: Creating the Vision: What is the future we want to create? In Step Five one evaluates and summarizes the suggestions of members and creates a preferred vision for our future.
6. Translating Future Visions into Action Goals: What achievements will be made in creating our vision? In Step Six, one creates goals that represent the components needed to achieve the vision.
7. Developing a Plan for Action: What strategies will support the achievement of the goal? In Step Seven, we create strategies and actions to achieve the goals.
8. Working the Plan: Putting the plan and the people in place and working the plan. In Step Eight, one creates and maintains the infrastructure to carry out ones plans.

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8-9 November, Vienna

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) is hosting a workshop in partnership with the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC) and the European Police College (CEPOL). The aim of this workshop is to look at existing practice and to assess needs for models, material and concepts to base police training on fundamental rights.

Further information can be received by emailing: information@fra.europa.eu

An event Descriptor is available below:

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The 14th External relations working group meeting took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 2-3 November 2010. In the presence of seven members of the ERWG, the Belgian Presidency, two observers from the EU, Cyprus and Greece, two candidate countries, Croatia and Turkey, two new partners to be, Georgia and the Secretariat of the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe (PCC SEE), the ERWG met for the third and last time in 2010.

The external relations policy was adjusted to be consistent with the new priorities for CEPOL in terms of strategy (Stockholm programme, Lisbon Treaty, CEPOL Strategy adopted by the Governing Board (Decision 43/2010GB) on the 30th September 2010, methodology defined by the Belgian Presidency. Inspired by the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” (PDCA) Deming cycle, this method aims at supporting the Presidency and Director on matters arising from External requests for cooperation or change, including the procedure to be followed when materialising cooperation agreements and processes to be implemented for cooperation with candidate and potential candidate countries. Four phases will be followed (Prospection, including a proactive market analysis, Materialisation, Implementation and Evaluation).
Therefore, the policy paper, adopted in 2008, was amended to integrate the necessary changes; the working party in charge of the review was tasked to further elaborate on the included table related to the calculation of costs for the different categories of countries. To achieve its tasks, it was proposed that the working party should meet once with a financial expert from the Secretariat.

Cooperation with Russia was debated. The group will recommend to the Strategy committee to ask the Director to proceed as soon as possible and find out what is possible to realize with the Russian federation and if they agree on the changes proposed by the legal services of the Council of the EU.
A facts finding mission should be sent to Russia as soon as possible to clarify these issues and in the meantime the Director was asked by the ERWG to speed up the negotiations and meet the Russian representatives.

Cooperation agreement with the Turkish Institute will be signed by both parts beside the Governing Board to be held in Limelette in December. This should be the ultimate step of a long process allowing us to reinforce our mutual cooperation.

Georgia presented its request for cooperation with CEPOL. Both the Head of International Affairs from the Ministry of Interior and the Head of training unit in the police academy were present. They explained that formalized cooperation would allow setting a framework for future cooperation:
It was stressed that cooperation became permanent with Georgia for some EU Member states already (e.g. Poland) so that formalize cooperation would be a natural further step building on existing cooperation. They already developed cooperation with Europol and Frontex.
The next step will consist in sending a facts finding mission from CEPOL and identifying the possible NCP for CEPOL in Georgia;

The Secretariat of the PCC SEE(*) presented their request for cooperation, aiming at securing long term cooperation with CEPOL. The working group on harmonized training elaborated different draft common curricula (train the trainers) and would be happy to get access the experience from CEPOL to avoid overlapping, with a European perspective in mind.

The recommendation from the ERWG to the Strategy Committee is to move on with PCC SEE after having checked the legal advice from the council of the EU;

The facts finding mission to Albania was debated and the ERWG agreed to take on further steps towards cooperation. A cooperation agreement will be drafted and sent to the Albanian part.

Two fact findings missions will be launched in Montenegro and Liechtenstein: A mission composed by a representative from the ERWG, from the Secretariat and from the Belgian Presidency will be sent.

AEPC announced their willingness to further facilitate cooperation with colleagues from outside the EU and informed the group that two new members joined the association: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lithuania.

Least but not last the ERWG members met in a close session to go through the five applications received after the call for nominations launched to fill the vacancy in the group. As an outcome, the ERWG members thanked Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Sweden for their excellent candidates and elected unanimously their new member Maurice Petit, from Belgium, Chair of AEPC who will ensure continuity in the policies set by the group.

The group will meet again three times in 2011. The next meeting will be held in Warsaw, Poland on 10-11 February 2011. Subsequent meetings will be held respectively in Estonia (7-8 July 2011) and in Romania (7-8 November 2010).

Note (*):

On 5 May 2006 in Vienna, during the Austrian presidency of the EU, the Ministers of Interior from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia, signed the Police Cooperation Convention for Southeast Europe. After ratification by all seven signatory states, the Convention entered into force on 10 October 2007. In addition, Bulgaria acceded to the Convention on 25 September 2008. More contracting parties should join shortly. PCC SEE will no longer exist when the last member will have joined the EU: full implementation of the PCC SEE means full implementation of EU acquis.

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Sixty bio-terrorism prevention and training experts from around the world gathered on 27-28 October 2010 at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de la Police to take part in Interpol’s Prevention of Bioterrorism Curriculum Workshop for National Police Academies.

The goal of this two-day workshop was the development of a common curriculum for bio-terrorism prevention training that could be integrated into standard training at police academies worldwide. The curriculum would build on the experience of experts from the 22 countries represented, as well as the bio-preparedness training curriculum that Interpol has developed over the past five years of the Bio-terrorism Prevention Programme.

Forty-one participants from 22 countries took part in this innovative workshop, as well as 17 bio-terrorism prevention experts from international and national agencies, under the guidance of educational experts from CEPOL -European Police College, Interpol’s Police Training Directorate and the Ecole National Superieure de la Police.

The tangible threat of bio-terrorism calls for prevention, preparedness and response at many levels, and in recognition of this, three training modules will be developed: a basic awareness course for first responders, an operational level curriculum for specialists engaged a regular CBRN response capacity, as well as curriculum with a focus on strategic planning, directed towards senior management.

The modules planned during the two days in St Cyr au Mont d’Or will be further perfected during the next year, so that a comprehensive bio-preparedness package will be ready in a year’s time.

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‘Human Rights and Police Ethics’ was the subject of a course held in Solna, Sweden on 29-30 September 2010. The aim of the course was to achieve an understanding of the role of the police as protectors of human rights and the risks of violation of human rights by the police. The teaching method adopted was mainly based on case studies where ethical and human rights issues were identified and elaborated, alternated with a more theoretical approach.

Twenty-four participants from 16 countries took part in the course, in which one of the most important topics were the importance of building trust and understanding with all parts of society, and being sensitive to the needs of groups who are marginalised and live in vulnerable conditions.

The first day of the course was dedicated to the issue of treatment of detainees and how prior expectations may influence interpretation and evaluation of ambiguous evidence in criminal cases, especially during interviews with suspects. Harriet Jacobsson Öhrn and Christer Nyberg, Swedish National Police Academy, conducted a seminar on two case studies in which the police officers were convinced the suspects were guilty but later turned out to be innocent.

Day two of the course was focused on the subject of prejudices and everyday racism and how these affect both the targets and practitioners. The way Roma are treated in a country is said to be the litmus test of a civil society and of its democracy. Maciej Zaremba, investigative journalist and writer, delivered a presentation about a case in the north of Sweden where a Roma family had been described as dangerous and causing terror in the village where they live. The fact that said Roma family had been harassed by neighbours was never brought into the equation. Had there been a tendency within local police forces to underestimate offences directed at Roma and to act with greater suspicion towards them? Is there a risk of taking sides and acting favorably towards those who are considered to be the "common people" and to be suspicious towards stigmatized groups? Can this affect professionalism in spite of ones best intentions.

José María Medrano Juarez, Spanish Guardia Civil, gave a presentation that covered historical facts from two cases in which the police and Roma successfully cooperated in Spain. One of the cases, concerning the search for a small girl, highlighted close cooperation in the organisation of the search.

A substantial amount of time during the seminars was dedicated to the police’s responsibility for defending the human rights of Roma and the development of methods that go beyond prejudices and stereotypes.

The issue of learning from mistakes was also a continuous theme throughout the course. This is an important challenge in all aspects of life, and how such learning is encouraged is important. This was discussed both in relation to mistakes due to confirmation bias and stereotyping and to cases where police wrongdoings have been revealed.

Jiří Sůva, Police College of the Ministry of the Interior in Prague, gave a lecture on Human Rights beyond the obvious. The focal point of the lecture was:

It is an easy thing to sign an action plan. The moment of truth arises when good intentions are transformed into concrete actions.

The course was organised by the Swedish CEPOL team with support from the Czech Republic and Spain.

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Support from CEPOL’s e-Net for the Bulgarian Schengen learning programme went live during October. Based on the traditional training sessions carried out in Bulgaria, the first Schengen evaluation in an online learning environment was implemented. With the Bulgarian Schengen online learning programme, over 2,000 Bulgarian police officers have the possibility to access key information on 12 selected topics, including Border Control, Police Cooperation, Visa, Illegal Immigration, Trafficking of Human Beings, SIRENE and the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Each topic is divided into sections of self assessment, video-based topic presentations, practical cases and in-depth topic elaborations. Additionally forums have been set-up where users are able to contact a pool of content experts about specific questions on the various topics covered by the programme.

In addition to the Bulgarian experts involved in the forums, there are also members involved from the CEPOL’s SIRENE Operators Community of Practice who will look at the questions from an international and EU good practice perspective.

CEPOL’s support to the Bulgarian Schengen online learning programme focuses on structuring the content in a logical learning environment in which all users, both learners and facilitators, will find possibilities to contribute to the common body of knowledge presented in the programme.

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The 21st Governing Board meeting, the first to be hosted by the Belgian Presidency, took place in Ghent, Belgium from 29 to 30 September 2010.

The main topics discussed were:

• The CEPOL Strategy and Balanced
• The Secretariat Activity Report May – August 2010
• Appointment of Accounting Officer
• Establishing an Internal Audit Panel
• Budget 2011: Update on the current situation
• New Budget Structure
• Status report of Budget discharge 2008
• 5-year Anniversary of CEPOL

The Governing Board adopted a number of decisions, including:

• Adoption of non-postponement of activities
• Enforcing the cut off dates for reimbursement of claims
• Written procedure for future budget transfers
• Appointing the Accounting Officer
• Establishing an internal audit panel
• Concerning the cooperation agreement between the Icelandic National Police College, the Norwegian Police University College, the Swiss Police Institute
• Concerning travel reimbursement for CEPOL activity 40/2010 cooperation with European Neighbouring Countries
• Approving the appointment of new Chair and Deputy-Chair of the External Relations Working Group
• Renaming the Common Curricula Coordination Working Group into common Curricula Working Group and changing its remit
• Establishing a policy concerning the accessibility of the Common Curricula to third parties
• CEPOL Strategy and Balanced Scorecard

The Chair of the Governing Board announced:

• The outcome of the CONT meeting that took place at the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels. The committee refused to grant the European Police College (CEPOL) a budget discharge for financial year 2008, as CEPOL has not met good administration standards. However, positive signals have been received from the Commission, CoA, and IAS.
• The importance of adopting the strategic document as well as the balanced score cards system.
• Only urgent budgetary issues will be adopted during this GB Meeting. The less urgent issues will first pass through the BAC before potential adoption during the December GB meeting.
• The paramount responsibility and commitment from the Governing Board regarding the functioning of CEPOL.

The Director announced:

• The Secretariat Activity Report May – August 2010.
• The visit of the Court of Auditors and Internal Audit Service to Bramshill
• The five year evaluation is ongoing.
• Three nominations (from Italy, Poland, and Czech Republic) for the Audit Panel have been received.

The Deputy Director presented:

• Reserve list of CEPOL activities 2010
• Policy on payment of reimbursement claims
• The progress to date on the Implementation of CEPOL’s Multi-Annual Plan 2010 – 2014.
• The latest developments on the status report of Budget Discharge 2008.
• Secretariat Planning Guide and Individual Activity Plans
• The agenda item outlining the importance of celebrating the 5 year milestone of CEPOL and gave ideas of suggested events.

Head of Corporate Services Department presented:

• Budget Transfers 2010 proposed
• Written Procedure for future Budget Transfers
• Appointment of Accounting Officer
• Establishing an Internal Audit Panel
• Budget 2011: Update on the current situation
• Budget Rationalisation
• The aimed budget figure
• New Budget Structure

The 22nd Governing Board meeting will take place in Limelette, Belgium from 8 to 9 December 2010.

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Terrorism is a hazard to all States and to all people. It poses a serious threat to our security, to our democratic values and to the rights and freedoms of our citizens, especially through the indiscriminate targeting of innocent people. Terrorism is unlawful and unjustifiable under any circumstances.

The European Union is an area of open borders, both literally and figuratively, in which the internal and external aspects of security are intimately linked. It is an area of increasing inter-dependence, allowing for free movement of people, ideas, technology and resources. This environment is abused by terrorists in order to pursue their objectives. In this context and in the spirit of solidarity, concerted and collective European action is indispensable to combating terrorism.

The CEPOL Unit of the Hellenic Police Academy, with the above in mind, and aware that seminars organised under the auspices of CEPOL have proven to be the best meeting points for Police Officers from Member States, undertook the responsibility of organising a CEPOL Seminar on “Counter Terrorism Awareness”. The seminar took place in Athens, Greece on 04 – 07 October 2010.

The target group for this event was Senior Police Officers or experts from E.U. Member States, Associated countries and E.U. Agencies specifically involved in Counter Terrorism activities within their organisations.

The use of the LMS, part of CEPOL’s e-Net, fully supported this activity and was greatly appreciated by both lecturers and participants.

The seminar was led by experts from Member States (Italy and the UK), Eurojust, Europol as well as Greek Experts coming from various national services that deal with Counter – Terrorism.

After the initial introductory CEPOL – EU and e-Net awareness presentations, the first day was further divided into elaboration and technocracy: Europol’s contribution aimed at Counter Terrorism in general, whereas the three following presentations focused on the intelligence analysis of Counter Terrorism, on Counter Terrorism Financing and the challenges of new Terrorism and, finally, on Religion motivated Terrorism.

The second day opened with a presentation from Eurojust on “Recognising different instruments of European cooperation, and judicial experiences in the field of Counter Terrorism with regard to financing of terrorist activities and organisations” while the following presentations described various national terrorist groups such as the revolutionary organization “17 November”, “Revolutionary Struggle” and “Conspiracy of Cells Fire”. The day concluded with a workshop on the “Transformation of an Extremist group to a Terrorist Organisation” based on the ‘’Conspiracy of Cells Fire’’ case.

The third day’s presentations started with: “Terrorist Organisation Revolutionary Struggle –rise to fall”, followed by discussions about the latest Terrorist bomb cases and a presentation entitled “Forensic Investigation in Keys, Locks & Burglar’s Tools for cases related to Counter Terrorism and Specifically the Revolutionary Organisation 17 November”. The day’s workings concluded with the workshop “Table Top exercise on Counter Terrorism”, which was a practical audio visual exercise based around a specific scenario and structured hypothetical real-time questions.

The last day’s activities commenced with a presentation giving an overview of terrorism in Greece, using the cases of 17 November, Revolutionary Struggle and Conspiracy of Cells of Fire. Following that, the outcomes of the seminar were reported and recommendations and conclusions were drafted. During the closing of the seminar the Police Brigadier General Olga Kokkorou, Deputy Director of the Hellenic Police Academy, delivered the seminar certificates to the participants.

The seminar’s main objectives, reflected in the evaluation feedback by the participants, were fully met, and were:

• Contrast examples of differing national approaches and experiences to intelligence management and planning
• Identify backgrounds to terrorism
• Identify trends relating to terrorist threat
• Recognise different instruments of European cooperation in the field of counter terrorism
• Establish an ongoing network with other colleagues on the seminar

Mark Parker, expert from the UK had the following to say regardind the seminar in his report:

“This was an extremely rewarding professional experience and a great opportunity to share knowledge with my European colleagues. As an invited Expert, the initial planning and preparation from the Hellenic Police Academy course management staff was first class, particularly the seminar objectives and proposed topics for presentation. Furthermore the use of the CEPOL Learning Management System provided the opportunity to engage with the participants during the pre-course phase. This allowed for the provision of preliminary reading material to supplement the presentation and provided details of the professional experiences of the participants, thus enabling me to configure the presentation accordingly with a view to achieving the learning outcomes."

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The European Parliament has decided not to give discharge for the budgetary year 2008. Since that time, CEPOL has implemented a transformation programme, marked by the appointment of new leadership in early 2010. The CEPOL of 2008 no longer exists; CEPOL in 2010 is an organisation dedicated to excellence in all areas of activity.

The European Police College’s (CEPOL) Director fully accepts the decision of the EP. The refusal of the discharge was expected since the year 2008 was marked by inadequacy and ineffectiveness in the areas of budget, procurement and human resources management. In addition the European Anti-Fraud Office’s (OLAF) investigation led to a referral for criminal procedure against the former director. This fact cast a shadow over the achievements of 40 national training institutions in the Member States and draws the attention away from the core activities and the value added to the fight against crime through education and learning.

Training courses, seminars, conferences, the exchange programme and other projects brought together thousands of senior police officers, scientists and researchers in the last 5 years.

The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the commencement of the Stockholm Programme demand that the coming years will be marked by increasing expectations of European law enforcement education. Building European Training Schemes is one aim that will result in a shift from quantitative to qualitative thinking in teaching and learning in law enforcement. Aligned with this trend, CEPOL will concentrate on the implementation of its recently approved strategy and addressing all expectations of the Parliament.

The European Police College has been under new management since February 2010 and considers the work of the Agency is now conducted in line with all applicable regulations and legitimate expectations of all stakeholders.

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Austria recently hosted the third module of the 2010 TOPSPOC VIII; the first two were hosted by France and Estonia. Twenty-five participants from 20 Member States, Iceland, Norway, Europol and Interpol came together in order to continue their work under the main topic “Future of policing in Europe, an area of freedom, security and justice serving the citizen”. The module took place from 20 – 24 September 2010 in the Police Training Centre, Vienna, Austria.

After a welcome address from a representative from organising institute “Sicherheitsakademie (.SIAK)” and a warm-up exercise performed by the appointed coaches: Piet De Brouwer (Belgium), Guy Vinet (France) and Marek Link (Estonia), the majority of the time was dedicated to group work on the four assignments already given during the first module.

For an additional exercise to highlight how to listen properly, participants were divided into groups and asked to reconstruct the picture attached composed of different figures based on the information they received. Getting the framework and structuring the information meant that the participants not only had to listen to each other, but also understand what others were actually saying. The exercise was frustrating at times for the participants. The colleagues discussed the interaction between the groups, the withdrawal of some participants, the different communication and leadership styles and find out that a “stupid” exercise can be an eye opener for everyday planning situations.

“In this exercise I’ve learned that I speak too much, but at the wrong moments”, “We don’t plan, we’re trained, conditioned to give immediate answers to last minute questions; we’ve to change this”, “Listen to the others, really listen, sometimes we only hear”, “For sure, we’ll remember this exercise for a long time”, were some of the statements during the debriefing.

On the last day an excursion to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) was organised, where the participants had the possibility to reflect and discuss with representatives from the FRA inter alia on a report about a European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS).

The fourth and final module will be hosted by the `Instituto Superior de Polícia Judiciáre e Ciéncias Criminais` in Loures, Portugal on 22 -26 November 2010 where the participants have to introduce and present the outcomes of their work on the assignments.

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As we celebrate 60 years of the European Convention on Human Rights, a panel will look at the challenges facing international human rights protection in the 21st century seen from the perspective of the different Council of Europe human rights monitoring bodies.

Chaired by Jean-Paul Costa, President of the European Court of Human Rights, the panel will answer a selection of your questions on 19 October 2010 (Webcast on www.coe.int, 11.15 AM-0.30 PM).

If you have specific questions you want to pose to the panelists, please email them before 13 October 2010 to DC_paneldiscussion@coe.int .

Panelists:

• Mr Jean-Paul COSTA, President of the European Court of Human Rights
• Mr Mauro PALMA, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture
• Mr Nils MUIZNIEKS, Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
• Ms Polonca KONČAR, President, European Committee of Social Rights
• Ms Lidija BASTA FLEINER, , Member of the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
• Ms Hanne Sophie GREVE, President, Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA)
• Mr Stefan OETER, Chair of the Committee of Experts of the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages

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The Governing Board of CEPOL has today approved the second progress report of the latest achievements made implementing the CEPOL Multi-annual Plan.

The CEPOL board are meeting today and tomorrow in Ghent, Belgium at the 21st Governing Board meeting.

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Summary
3 September, 2010
Brussels, Belgium

The 20th Strategy Committee was hosted by the Belgian Presidency in Brussels, Belgium.

The Chair announced:

• Referring to the draft of the second report on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Police College for the financial year 2008 (C7 0198/2009 – 2009/2127(DEC)), prepared by Ms Mathieu, it was decided to write an open letter.
• With regard to the budget 2008 discharge, the current Director has appointed a London based Audit Team.
• The CONT asked the CEPOL Secretariat to complete a multi-annual plan.
• The Secretariat will create a task force to clean up the pending financial issues by the end of September.
• The Court of Audit, IAS, and the European Commission insists on the improvement of the internal systems.
• The Secretariat is running with the selection of the new staff. The Secretariat had 17 open selections for individuals ongoing of which eight selections have been completed. Moreover, by March 2011 the Secretariat will have the full staff in force.

The Director gave an overall overview:

• Secretariat’s Activity Report May – August 2010.
• Activity Implementation
• Implementation of Budget 2008 – 2010
• Procurement
• Human Resources
• Implementing Rules in force
• Adoption of Non Postponement of Activities to 2011
• Adoption of Reserve List of Activities 2010
• Adoption of Refused Reimbursement Claims (Late Reimbursement Claims)
• Proposed Budget Transfers 2010
• Procedure for Future Budget Transfers
• Status Report of Multi-Annual Plan
• Preliminary Evaluation of the Project
• Exit Strategy and Plan of Closure
• Secretariat Planning Guide and Individual Activity Plans
• 5-year Anniversary of CEPOL
• MEDA III Project (CEPOL’s intention to be implementing partner of AIDCO)
• Budget 2011
• Update on the Current Situation
• Budget Rationalisation
• The Aimed Budget Figure
• New Budget Structure

The Strategy Committee recommend the 21st Governing Board adopt the draft decisions:

• CEPOL Strategy and Balanced Scorecard
• Budget Rationalisation
• Cooperation Agreement with Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
• Amendment of Cooperation Agreements with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland
• European Neighbourhood Conference/Free tickets for the participants
• Nomination of the Chair and Deputy-Chair of the ERWG
• Common Curricula

The Committee also discussed:

• Euro-east Police Project 2012 – 2013
• Future Proposals of Cooperation Agreements
• Initiatives for the Cooperation with Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina
• Cooperation with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
• Status Report about the Cooperation with Russian Federation
• Status Report about the Cooperation with Turkey
• Cooperation with Liechtenstein

The 21st Strategy Committee meeting will be held on 25 November 2010 in Diegem, Belgium

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On 23 – 27 August 2010 The CEPOL Secretariat hosted the first meeting of the Project Group Schengen on-line learning module.

The Project Group’s experts from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania, discussed CEPOL’s approach to learning for e-learning modules (see Governing Board Decision 18/2010/GB) and its implications for the Schengen on-line learning module.

As a consequence of CEPOL’s recently intensified cooperation with Frontex, the group’s discussions were enriched by the presence of Friedrich Scheuermann, Training Project Officer in the field of e-learning from Frontex.

Many topics and issues were covered during the meeting including:

• Development of plot lines for e-learning cases;
• Identifying key topics that need to be covered in the field of the Schengen Agreement and the Convention Implementation of the Schengen Agreement (CISA);
• Making sure that the professional domain of the senior police officer is represented in the on-line module thus guaranteeing decision taking related to CISA legal instruments.

One of the main challenges the Project Group members during the meeting was finding a way of mapping essential learning processes to Schengen related strategic decisions and transforming them into an appropriate instructional design in an attractive self-paced learning context.

A future meeting of the Project Group is scheduled for October 2010 in which, amongst others, the experts will focus on the development of a self diagnostic test, related to identifying a learning path as part of a newly designed "My Progress" learner tool. This tool will give learners improved possibilities to undertake responsibilities for their own learning.

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