Law enforcement communicators gather for annual awareness event

On 15 & 16 October, Europol held its annual conference for law enforcement communications professionals at its headquarters in The Hague.

Now in its 9^th year, the 2012 ‘Awareness Seminar for Law Enforcement Communicators’ brought together 45 participants from 16 different countries, to network and share knowledge and experience in their areas of expertise. Representatives included EU police magazine editors, web editors, press and PR specialists and those with other communications roles within a law enforcement environment, including Cepol, Eurojust and Interpol.

Participants discussed and received presentations on a wide variety of subjects, including social media in a law enforcement environment, crisis communication and the importance of ePublications. Other visiting speakers included Justine Rhéaume, who introduced Interpol’s new educational website, and Marko Luotonen and Tuomo Korhonen from the Finnish Police, who spoke about their ‘Communication Readiness Group’. At the end of the event, the group enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at some of Europol’s specialist areas such as counterfeit goods, the drugs laboratory and counterfeit currency laboratory.