​On 1 June 2015, the first CEPA OC-Course on “Prevention and Fighting of Internationally Relevant Crime” was opened in Prague.

This course is funded by the European Union as part of the ISEC Project (“Central European Police Online Website and Organized Crime Course in English” – CEPOOCEN).

In his opening speech, Mr Petr Novák, member of the CEPA board of directors from the Czech Republic, underlined the significance of international cooperation and of the joint fighting of organized crime. Mr František Hřebík, Deputy Director of the Police Academy of the Czech Republic, referred to the improvement and extension of regional police cooperation and to the international significance of CEPA in the field of further education and training in Europe.

The representatives of the Central Coordination Office (ZKB) from Austria and from the National Contact Offices from Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic welcomed the participants and wished them all the best and good luck for this course.

Special thanks were expressed to the organizers from the Czech Republic. It was said that this English language course which is financed from EU funds was carried out for the first time. CEPA is thus unique in its kind because as a further training institution it organizes an equal-quality training seminar on the subject of organized crime both in English and in German.

During four weeks and at the seminar venues of Prague (CZ), Brdo (SLO), Bratislava (SK) and Budapest (H), the 20 participants from the seven CEPA states will learn about the cultures of these countries and about the working methods of the police units in these CEPA member states. Lecturers from all CEPA member states will give presentations on major criminal police issues.

In addition, the participants will be informed about the latest strategies to fight internationally organized crime. Legal and international rules and regulations will complete the theoretical course programme. During excursions and practical exercises, the participants will learn about operative processes and tactical combating measures employed in the individual CEPA member states.

Similar to the CEPA Main Course 2015, the participants of the 1st CEPA OC-Course will carry out a workshop on “Joint Investigation Teams (JIT)”. The workshops are structured around 3 issues and/or assignments by the workshop manager Ms Kaja Lehr from Germany. The participants will write a final thesis on the 3 workshop assignments. The results of their workshop contributions will be presented by the course participants to an expert committee on 26 June 2015 in Budapest where the course will be concluded. The final theses will be published on CEPA’s homepage.

Towards the end of this opening ceremony the organizers once again referred to the sponsoring of this course from EU funds and to the construction of the English language homepage.