More than 200 police chiefs, senior law enforcement officers and academic experts from Europe and beyond gathered at Europol headquarters in The Hague this week for the 2013 European Police Chiefs Convention (EPCC).
Co-hosted by Europol and the Lithuanian National Police in the context of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the event attracted high level representatives from 36 European countries as well as Australia, Colombia, Israel, the Russian Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and the USA. Representatives from Interpol and EU institutions including the European Parliament also attended.
Following the preparatory work of four expert working groups during 2013, EPCC participants discussed the experts’ findings on core issues in policing such as: witness protection, modern technology, police leadership and data protection. The event also offered the opportunity for law enforcers to exchange ideas and to agree on a set of joint directions and guidelines for future policies.
The participants heard speeches from Saulius Skvernelis, Lithuanian Police Commissioner General; Stefano Manservisi, Director General for Home Affairs at the European Commission; David Armond, Director Border Policing Command, UK National Crime Agency; Michael Niemeier, Director for International Coordination at the German Federal Criminal Police; Dietrich Neumann, Head of Corporate Services at Europol; and Europol’s Director, Rob Wainwright.
“The annual EPCC is a unique forum where police chiefs can express their concerns and ideas of how to improve policing in a more challenging and difficult global environment. During the convention we have concluded that we need to harness and improve our technology to match the criminals, who operate more and more via the Internet, and we need to identify the right police leaders that are open to innovation and are ready to work in a more concerted manner on the global stage,” says Rob Wainwright.
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