The 2nd CEPA Journal 2016 has been published

​This journal was on the topic – published "Strategies of fighting and principles of co-operation in the field of smuggling of human beings"

Print editions will be distributed on request of Police Organizations or police officers via the National Contact Points resp. the Central Coordination Office of the Sicherheitsakademie.

Closing ceremony of the second CEPA-OC-Course in Bratislava

​On 24 June 2016 the 2nd OC-Course found its end in Bratislava by handing over the certificates to the participants of the Course.

This further training was co-financed by the European Union under the umbrella of the ISEC-Project "Central European Police College Online Website and Organized Crime Course English".

In the presence of high-ranking guests off all CEPA Member States the closing ceremony of the 2nd OC-Course took place in the premises of the Police University in Bratislava. 

23 police officers, originating from the seven CEPA Member States who are tasked with matters of criminal police, had the opportunity to participate in this Course, held from 30 Mai until 24 June 2016, taking place in four locations; Brdo – Slovenia, Prague – the Czech Republic, Budapest – Hungary and finally Bratislava – the Slovak Republic.

The focus of this course was laid on the acquisition of additional expertise and the deepening of knowledge about strategies on investigations and combatting crimes related to its cross-border and international forms, which went hand-in-hand with the enhancement and improvement of the police co-operation in the regional context.

During the Course the participant had to deal with issues concerning "Joint Investigation Teams – JIT). The results of the workshops had to be elaborated in written and were presented at the closing ceremony before a forum of high-ranking international experts.

The written results of the workshop 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 – www.mepa.net

The Chief Criminal Director from the German Police University of Munster and Member of the Board of Directors of the CEPA – Germany, Mr. Matthias Zeiser, highlighted in his speech the importance of the CEPA in the context of criminal police co-operation.

The spokesperson of the Course, Mr. Rainer Lienhard (Germany) mentioned in this closing speech the uniqueness of the CEPA and expressed his sincerest thanks to all persons responsible for the execution of this Course.

The Rector of the Police University of Bratislava and Member of the Board of Directors of the CEPA – Slovak Republic, Doc. Dr. Lucia Kurilovská, PhD, handed over the certificates to the participants who  passed the Course successfully.

In the context of the closing ceremony the meeting of the Course Leaders of the CEPA Member States was also held. Beside the evaluation of the results of the recent OC-Course the experts analyzed the training events of the years 2015 and – held so far – in 2016.

CEPA Expert’s Seminar „Rocker Crime“

​In the sequence of the CEPA Expert's Seminars the Sicherheitsakademie of the Austrian Ministry of the Interior in co-operation with the Landespolizeidirektion of Carinthia arranged a seminar with the focus on "Combatting Rocker Crime". This seminar took place from 6 to 9 June 2016.

At the picturesque Pörtschach, situated at the lake "Wörther See" 30 specialists in this field of crime convened to discuss the recent developments on this topic. Unfortunately, no participant of the Czech Republic could attend this event. Seven investigators from the District's Police Commands of the Landespolizeidirektion of Carinthia had the opportunity to attend this seminar as guests for two days. It was for the first time that the CEPA organized a seminar dealing with "Rocker Crime".

The Landespolizeidirektion of Carinthia ensured an intensive and interesting programme. The situation scenarios and the different approaches to this form of crime in the various countries were discussed intensively, in order to get a clear picture about the possibilities of action as well as the current situation in Central Europe. Specific emphasis was laid on the various forms of this kind of crime and the national and the international co-operation in this field of work.

The participants discussed cases of high importance, specifically such ones where the co-operation between the operational investigators played an important role.

Furthermore, the aim of this seminar covered the exchange of knowledge and "best practice models" in combatting Rocker Crime, as well as opportunities for optimizing the national and international co-operation, based on the example of Joint Investigation Teams – JIT.

At the end of the seminar, the experts came to the conclusion that this seminar was an important contribution to highlight all aspects of Rocker Crime by enhancing the co-operation in the regional context. Not only the content of the seminar, but also the framework programme including a boat tour on the lake brought the participants together and formed a solid basis for the future co-operation.  

CEPA Seminar Child Sexual Exploitation On-Line

Academy of the Police Force in Bratislava together with the Cybercrime Unit/ Criminal Police Bureau / Presidium of the Police Force organized a seminar Child Sexual Exploitation On-Line as a part of CEPA training activities from May 9th – 13th, 2016 in Bratislava.

23 police experts participated. The Seminar was launched by an international conference opened by the President of the Slovak Police Force and the Rector of the Academy of the Police Force. Key topics were presented by 6 seminar participants (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia) which shared their best practices in tackling this criminal offence.

Experts of the Cybercrime Unit and IT and Management Department of the Academy offered a very interesting interactive programme covering i.a. case studies, work of preventists in the Slovak Republic. 

Participants were actively involved  into the programme via practical exercises and/or the team work of small groups of cooperation. The aim was also to enable participants to share and discuss their experience of combatting cybercrime.

Team-building in the "Escape Room", sightseeing in Bratislava and Devín were among after-seminar amenities.

The Second Week of the Second MEPA – OC Course in Prague

The second week of the MEPA OC Course took place in the capital city of the Czech Republic – Prague from 5th to 10th June 2016.

The opening speech was given by the representative of the Police Academy of the Czech Republic. He stressed the importance of MEPA in the field of international police education, even more so since the course is held in English. He also wished all participants good luck and a lot of success in their work. Then a representative of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic also emphasised the unique nature of MEPA.

During the five days of the course, the participants had the opportunity to learn more about the work of the Police of the Czech Republic. Moreover, they were able to exchange knowledge and experience from practice.  The participants also enjoyed the hospitality of the Czech Republic.

Opening ceremony of the 2nd CEPA OC-Course 2016

​On 30 Mai 2016 the 2nd CEPA OC-Course started in Brdo/Slovenia, related to the topic "Prevention and Combatting of Organized International Crime".

This Course is co-financed by the European Union under the Framework of the ISEC-funded project „Central European Police Online Website and Organized Crime Course in English" – CEPOOCEN".

Mr. Franci Kregar of the Directorate-General of Criminal Investigation Services of Slovenia highlighted in his welcome address the importance of the international co-operation in the field of combatting organized crime.

The representatives of the Central Coordination Office (Austria) and the respective National Contact Points from Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic and Hungary welcomed the course participants warmly and wished them a successful course progress. Sincerest thanks were offered to the organizers of the Slovenia course week.

The CEPA as such is a unique institution, because it constitutes an institution which provides enhanced training on the same level in both English and German, whereas – as already mentioned above – the course in English is co-financed by the EU.

23 Participants of the 7 CEPA Member States will be introduced to the work procedures of the police forces over the following four weeks at the locations Brdo/Slovenia, Prague/Czech Republic, Budapest/Hungary and Bratislava/Slovak Republic. Trainers from all CEPA Member States will hold lectures related to topics of criminal police. Legal and international regulations will complete the programme for the participants. Moreover, the participants will be made acquaint with operative processes by the means of practical exercises, carried out via excursions.

As it goes for the CEPA "Main Course" 2016, also the students of the OC-Course will participate in a workshop dealing with "Joint Investigation Teams –JIT". They will have to prepare case studies related to three different topics. The participants have to present their findings in front of an expert group at the end of the Course in Bratislava on 24 June 2016. These elaborations can be found on the CEPA Website as well.

On the occasion of the closure of the Course the fact of the co-funding of the Course as well as the new CEPA Website by the EU will be highlighted once again.

Workshop and meeting of the Project Leaders 9 – 13 May 2016

In the course of the ISEC-funded project "Central European Police College Online Website and Organized Crime Course English" a workshop and a meeting of the Project Leaders took place in Vienna from 9 to 13 May 2016. Members of the Central Coordination Office and representatives of the Police of Baden-Württemberg participated in these events. Main focus was given on the final technical implementation of the functionalities of the new CEPA-Website for the remaining time of the project and the work packages which come along with this topic.

Within this project, only two further meetings are scheduled: the CEPA-Online meeting in Brunn/Austria from 28 to 29 June 2016 and the final Project Leader meeting from 27 to 28 July in Stuttgart/Germany.

Closing event of the 24th CEPA Main Course in Budapest

​On 29 April 2016 the conclusion of the 24 CEPA Main Course took place in Budapest, Hungary, by awarding the certificates to the successful participants.  

This event was held in the presence of high-ranking delegates of the CEPA Member States in the premises of the International Further Training Centre of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior with a specific focus on the theme "Prevention and combatting of international relevant forms of crime".

26 practitioners of the seven CEPA Member States had from 14 March until 29 of April the opportunity to participate in this advanced training at seven locations in Villingen-Schwenningen (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovak Republic), Vienna (Austria), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Biel (Switzerland) and Budapest (Hungary). 

The main emphasis of this course was the dissemination and the deepening of investigation and combatting strategies in the field of cross-border resp. international co-operation in order to broaden the horizon and to improve the expertise of the participants.

Throughout the course the participants had to attend a workshop dealing chiefly with "Joint Investigation Teams (JIT)". The results of this workshop, focused on "financial investigations", "controlled deliveries" and "data processing systems" had to be elaborated in written and were presented during the closing ceremony in front of an international audience.

All investigators will have the opportunity to make themselves acquaint with the written results of this workshop. In that way, not only the participants, but also police officers who could not attend this course can benefit from these results. Moreover, the presentations will be published on the CEPA-Website for downloading.

Ms doc. PhDr., CSc. Ludmilla Cirtiková, Vice-Rector of the Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague stressed in their official speech the importance of the CEPA in the field of international police co-operation. 

The spokesperson of the course, Mr. Gábor Bélai, highlighted the uniqueness of the further training opportunities of the CEPA and expressed - also on behalf of his colleagues - his gratitude to the responsible officials of the CEPA .

The Director-General of the Centre for International Further Training Centre of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior, Dr. Istvan Farkas as well as the Director of the Centre for International Police Co-operation, Colonel Géza Horváth and the Head of the CEPA in Hungary, Mag. Zoltan Feher awarded the certificates to the successful participants of the 24th CEPA Main Course 2016.

Furthermore, in the course of the closing ceremony also the meeting of the Main Course Leaders of the CEPA took place. Beside the evaluation of the results of the present Main Course the experts and the representatives of the CEPA decided upon the first topics of the agenda for the upcoming Main Course 2017.  

International Expert Seminar on “Dealing with Mass Migration along Borders” held in Budapest

​The above-mentioned international seminar on "Mass Migration" was held in Budapest from 29 March to 1 April 2016.

In addition to police officers from the MEPA countries the seminar was attended by experts from the countries of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Rumania and Serbia.

The presentations given by representatives of the National Police Headquarters (public order police and border police), of the National Investigation Office, of the National University for the Public Service and the riot police as well as by police officers from countries invited to the seminar covered a multi-faceted range of topics ranging from European law via situation reports and solution methods  in the respective countries up to human trafficking. Almost all experience reports stressed the request for a continuation of this seminar in about 18 months' time since it offers the chance to get an insight into the situation in other countries and to exchange best practice experiences. Considering the challenges set by new strategies to be adapted to changing situations this would also be of great importance in the near future.

The 1st CEPA Journal 2016 has been published

​This journal was on the topic – published "mass migration risk for internal security."

Print editions will be distributed on request of Police Organizations or police officers via the National Contact Points resp. the Central Coordination Office of the Sicherheitsakademie.