Concluding conference of OSCE’s Intelligence-led Policing project 2017-2020 held

The Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department (SPMU) presented the achievements and lessons learned from the four-year extra budgetary project on Intelligence-led Policing (ILP) during the project’s concluding conference on 26 November 2020.

Petrika Jorgji, Co-ordinator of the Albanian OSCE Chairmanship Task Force; Ambassador Anne-Kirsti Karlsen, Permanent Representative of the Delegation of Norway to the OSCE; and Rainer Konrad, Military Adviser of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the OSCE, as representatives of the main financial contributors to the project, welcomed some 130 participants from beneficiary countries as well as partner international organizations such as INTERPOL, EUROPOL, the EU’s Agency for Law Enforcement Training, and the EU’s Advisory Missions, to the online meeting.

Hans-Juergen Pechtl, Assistant Director of Criminal Analysis Sub-directorate of INTERPOL, said: “The Guidebook is an excellent managerial and policy tool which provides guidance on ILP implementation at the national level. Here at INTERPOL we frequently use the OSCE Guidebook in our trainings and we stand ready to collaborate in the future.”

Over the past four years, the OSCE Guidebook on ILP has been translated into 10 languages, 19 national and regional events were conducted and some 550 law enforcement officers and governmental officials of 35 OSCE participating States and 8 Partners for Co-operation were trained on ILP. The OSCE promotes ILP as a modern proactive policing tool that uses information and data for evidence-based decision-making and planning, leading to more effective and efficient police work.

During the conference, representatives of beneficiary countries presented evaluations of their national ILP programmes as well as concrete future ILP needs. SPMU representatives presented the results of the ILP Needs Assessment Questionnaire and the new extra-budgetary project on ILP for 2021–2023. The new project will shift from awareness-raising towards more capacity-building and technical assistant activities.

Guy Vinet, Head of SPMU, concluded: “ILP is a journey and it is important to remember that the starting point for this journey lies in policing — providing a safe and secure environment for the public. ILP is a tool to provide the best service to your citizens.”