New tools to prevent transnational organized crime discussed at 2021 OSCE Annual Police Experts Meeting

New tools for preventing transnational organized crime were the focus of the 2021 OSCE Annual Police Experts Meeting (APEM) under the theme of “Preventing Transnational Organized Crime” held online and in-person on 7 October 2021 in Vienna.

“To prevent organized crime, we must address the root causes such as poverty, unemployment, lack of education and of prospects for the future. We must prevent societal marginalization and the downward spiral into organized crime through a comprehensive whole-of-society approach,” said Håkan Jeverell, Special Envoy on Organized Crime from Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The APEM, organized this year by the 2021 Swedish OSCE Chairpersonship with the support of the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit, brought together over 100 law enforcement experts and other criminal justice practitioners, representatives of regional and international organizations, researchers, as well as civil society representatives from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.

Participants explored joint challenges and good practices for addressing transnational organized crime in a comprehensive and holistic way. They also discussed institution-building activities, co-ordination among national institutions and the part played by public-private partnerships in state efforts.

“The effects of organized crime are felt around the globe, eroding governance, infiltrating political processes, fuelling corruption and violence, exploiting vulnerable persons, undermining legitimate markets and posing a growing environmental threat. Responses to organized crime must therefore be holistic and address its many drivers and enablers,” said John Brandolino, Director of the Division for Treaty Affairs at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Alena Kupchyna, OSCE Co-ordinator of Activities to Address Transnational Threats, explained why prevention is essential to addressing this form of crime and how it disrupts crime groups’ behaviour and reduces the space for illicit activities. Calling on meeting participants to identify a way forward toward a common strategy, she said, “The fight against transnational organized crime can be effective only if we have a common and shared agenda and if we include a strong prevention component in all our endeavours.”