Course-Leader-Conference in Ljubljana for the CEPA Main Course 2018
From September 5th till September 7th 2017 the Course-Leader-Conference for the 26th CEPA Main Course in the year 2018 took place in Ljubljana/Slovenia.
The Course Leaders of the seven CEPA States were planning the process and content of the practical advanced training of the pivotal topic "Prevention and Fight against Relevant International Crime".
In the year 2018 new trends and methods for the fight against organized crime will be introduced by several experts of the CEPA-States. International and cross border cooperation and the elaboration of combined combating measures are on the focus for that matter. The topics will be conventional Organized Crimes Offences. Modern and very new methods for combating organized crime will be presented.
As it was in the last years the participants will attend a workshop during their advanced training. At the end of the course the results will be introduced to an expert committee.
Journal 25 Years CEPA Main Course
Printed Versions are distributed by the National Contact Points or the Central Coordination Office if requested by Police Departments or Police Attendants.
Workshop-Case study "JIT-Goldfinger"
The written results of the workshop from the MEPA - Main Course 2017 will be made available for criminal investigators of all CEPA Member States, thus enabling police officers did not have the opportunity to participate in this Course to take profit from this event. Furthermore, the findings of the can be downloaded on the website of the CEPA – Insider www.mepa.net
‚Save the Date‘ international working session on ‘International Police Missions’
The German Police University in Münster envisages to conduct the next international working session on 'International Police Missions' between Wednesday, 16 and Friday, 18 May 2018 on its premises in Münster, Germany.
Audience: European senior police officers, doctors, psychologists and priests attached to police services, members of the armed forces (max. total of 50)
Aims and Objectives: current situation and standards of international police missions, staff deployments, intercultural skills and competencies, challenges and potentials of professional development, medical and psychological conditions
Working Language: English
Anticipated Fee: 280 Euros per delegate
Contact: Lars Wagner and Ursula Grunwald, International Relations, German Police University
CEPA board meeting in Piest´any/Slovak Republic
From 13-15 November 2018 the CEPA Board met at the spa resort Piest´any in the Slovak Republic. This strategic meeting of CEPA was attended by high-ranking representatives from all seven member countries of CEPA. Dr. h. c. prof. JUDr., PhD. Lucia Kurilovská, Rector of the Academy of Police Corps in Bratislava, opened the Board meeting and warmly welcomed the participants. The agenda included 10 items that were dealt with during the meeting. In addition to a review of the activities of 2017 and 2018, the courses and seminars for the next year 2019 were discussed and the contents decided. The future orientation of the CEPA as well as a possible international certification of the CEPA activities were the focus of the discussions. New target groups and new contents for the CEPA events could be tapped, which will also be incorporated into the CEPA Activities Programme in the near future.
The CEPA board meeting at Piest´any was rounded off by an evening tour of the spa town. The Slovakian delegation showed the architecture of the city and the origin of the spa island in Piest´any during a city tour.
CEPA Meeting of the Board of Trustees in Stein/Rhine – Switzerland
The annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the seven CEPA Member States took place from 2 to 5 November 2016. Purpose of this meeting was the preparation of the upcoming events and activities of the CEPA in 2017. This meeting was organized by the Swiss Border Guards in Stein/Rhine, where the delegates could enjoy the beautiful landscape and the warm hospitality of their hosts. The Board of Trustees of the CEPA is the operative forum, in charge of the implementation of the strategic guidelines as decided by the CEPA Board of Directors.
The day before the meeting took place an excursion was made to the historic city of Stein, specifically to the Town Hall, where the major of the city welcomed the high-ranking officials.
On the agenda there was a very tight work programme, in order to plan and harmonize the activities foreseen for 2017. The Board of Trustees decided upon the contents and the numbers of seminars and all other trainings scheduled for this year. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees was tasked with the implementation of the strategic guidelines as issued by the Board of Directors. Thus, the topics of the Course Leaders' Conferences for the respective CEPA-Courses and the editorial requirements of the Website of the CEPA (www.mepa.net) were discussed.
In the course of this meeting the activities of 2016 were evaluated on the basis of reports and experiences made and the planning for 2017 worked out accordingly.
In 2017 there will be 8 CEPA Seminars offered, dealing with specific topics, linked to cross-border issues, such as migration. The CEPA Main Course and the CEPA Special Course 2017 will also be held in accordance with the CEPA Catalogue of Activities. Furthermore, the opportunity of work shadowing will be made available as well in 2017.
CEPA-Seminar „International Organized Drug Criminality“
From 26 September to 30 September 2016 the Seminar „International Organized Drug Criminality" took place in the premises of the Police University of Baden-Württemberg in Villingen-Schwenningen. This seminar was managed by Mr Joachim Fischer from the LKA Wiesbaden and Mr Jürgen Wömer from the Police University of Baden-Württemberg.
The main topic of this seminar war focused on the ever-lasting issues for the Europe-wide combatting of "new psycho-active substances", the international co-operation in the field of dealing with drug crime and the evaluation of the phenomenon "Crystal Meth" in Europe.
Additionally, beside the discussion of recent investigation results brought in by the Course participants also the use of the Internet and the "Darknet" in this field of crime and the new investigation tactics, as for example the "deployment of virtual undercover investigators" formed part of the deliberations.
Out of the seven CEPA Member States 16 participants from six CEPA Member States participated in this Seminar.
Opening Ceremony of the 22nd CEPA Special Course 2016 in Bad Endorf – Germany
On 12 September 2016 the opening ceremony of the 22nd CEPA Special Course related to "Cross-Border Co-operation on Compensatory Measures and Border Police Duties" was held. The course manager responsible, Mr. Markus Finger of the German Federal Police Academy – Lübeck – bided welcome to the course participants for the first week of the course and wished them a successful course outcome.
Mr. Thomas Leudhardt, Head of the German Federal Sports Training Centre highlighted the importance of the international co-operation in this field, as the topic of migration in Europe is a major issue for the police forces. In this context, the international importance of the CEPA in the area of advanced training was mentioned, as well as the uniqueness of the CEPA in the training landscape of Europe.
The representative of the Central Coordination Office of the CEPA Austria, Mr. Johannes Tober, welcomed the participants and expressed his thanks to the organizers of the German Federal Police. Also in his statement, the needs of this further training, which is unparalleled in Europe in this kind, was stressed. Specifically, the mass-migration flows and the resulting illegal border-crossing and the border security measures means a much closer international police co-operation.
The 20 participants, stemming from the CEPA Member States will be introduced during the four-week Course at the locations Bad Endorf, Holešov, Budapest and Vienna made familiar with the work processes in the CEPA Member States on boder security and police duties. Lecturers from Switzerland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, working closely with the national lecturers, will give a thorough insight into the border-police related issues.
Legal and international relations will round off the theoretical programme. The participants will also have the opportunity to be made familiar with the work processes related to border police in the CEPA Member States by the means of excursions and practical exercises.
The participants will also attend various workshops during the Course on the topic of migration and the related forms of police co-operation. The workshops were elaborated by Mr. Akim Yazici and Mr. René Döhla and divided into three sections. At the end of the Course, on 7 October 2016 in Vienna, the participants will present the workshop results in front of a forum of international experts.
Conference of the Course Leaders for the CEPA Main Course 2017 in Prague
From 6 to 8 September 2016 the Course Leaders Conference for the CEPA Main Course 2017 took place in Prague, Czech Republic.
The Course Leaders of the 7 CEPA Member States elaborated the schedule and the contents for the Main Course 2017, which will take place in all CEPA Member States and will be – as the 25th Main Course - a jubilee as well.
The Main Course 2017 will deal with the most recent trends and methods for combatting organized crime, which will be presented to the course participants. The international and cross-border co-operation and the elaboration of common strategies for combatting these forms for crime will constitute the main part of the Course. On the one hand, the classic forms of organized crime will be discussed, on the other hand the participants will be mad acquaint with the most recent forms of combatting organized crime.
The participants will attend a workshop as well, as it was the same practice over the last years. At the end of the Course, the participants will present their findings in front of a forum of international experts.
This 25 CEPA Main Course will be held as a "jubilee course", with a ceremonial act in Budapest at the closure of the Course. The National Contact Point of Hungary presented a plan for this event, which was discussed by the participants of the Conference. The details of the programme will be made available during the next weeks.
Final meeting of Project staff of the ISEC-funded Project Central European Police College Online Website and Organized Crime Course English
In the framework of the ISEC-Project, co-financed by the European Commission, the final meeting took place from 27 to 28 July 2016 in the premises of the "Präsidium Technik, Logistik und Service – PLTS" of the Police of Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart. This entity is responsible for the Project segment "Central European Police College Online Website".
Beside a completely re-designed Website itself in both English and German, by the change to the software standard of SharePoint 2013 a much higher degree of data protection could be achieved and security resp. state-of-the-art functionalities could be implemented.
In the course of this meeting the final work packages were completed, the last modifications regarding the Website were evaluated and the final budget execution formalities were clarified.