Databases and IT structures supporting intelligence-led policing focus of OSCE regional workshop held in Skopje

An OSCE regional training workshop dedicated to criminal intelligence databases and IT structures supporting intelligence-led policing (ILP) took place on 7 and 8 November 2019 in Skopje.

The OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department/Strategic Police Matters Unit, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje, organized the event, which attracted around 80 law enforcement professionals from across South-Eastern Europe.

Experts from Austria, Estonia, Israel and EUROPOL shared experiences, good practices and lessons learned from their law enforcement agencies and authorities in setting up, managing and using databases and IT structures for proactive policing.

Participants discussed how criminal intelligence work could be further improved in their respective institutions; particularly with regard to organization and management of criminal intelligence, enhancing quality of inputs and outputs into/from databases and IT systems or making better use of intelligence products by senior law enforcement managers in operational decisions and strategic planning.

The regional workshop was preceded by a side event on the flow of information within the police organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje for senior representatives of the Internal Affairs Ministry of North Macedonia.

Julia Popovska-Aleksandrovska, Assistant Director of the Department for Criminal Intelligence and Analysis of the Internal Affairs Ministry said: “Intelligence-led policing as an approach to law enforcement management makes police work more transparent and accountable, thus strengthening public’s trust and confidence. But to fully maximize its potential, it is necessary for all levels of police to understand this model and their role within it. Awareness-raising and training provided by workshops like this one is indispensable in this regard.”

Guy Vinet, Head of Strategic Police Matters Unit at the OSCE Secretariat, underlined that in the context of the increasing complexities of crime as well as greater public demand for financial efficiency, pro-active policing advocated by the ILP model is being adopted by a number of countries around the world.

The OSCE Guidebook on Intelligence-Led Policing presents a common and coherent approach to implementing ILP in the OSCE area. It has been translated into several languages and is used by law enforcement authorities and training institutions across the OSCE area.