Two lessons learned in one session – towards digital radio and common police education

EuroCOP’s final enlargement conference “Policing in an enlarged EU” dealt with the challenges connected with digital radio and police education standards.

Police today have to face many new challenges: illegal immigration, introduction of new technology and higher demands on security as a whole. The experiences in different parts of Europe vary, but there are always possible lessons to be learnt from fellow European colleagues.

Representatives from Police Unions all over Europe met in Helsinki on September 25^th to share experiences and exchange best practise tips.

The forth EuroCOP enlargement conference took place in Helsinki, Finland. One of the reasons being the current EU-presidency which is held up by Finland, the second reason being the Finnish progress as far as the introduction of digital radio goes.

The conference was divided into two parts: Police education in the EU and a hands-on introduction to and discussion about digital radio in the police.

The President of the co-organising Finnish Police Union (SPJL) Yrjö Suhonen, opened up the conference by giving a brief introduction to how the police works in Finland. 

Fernando Carillo, President of AUGC, Spain

Since the invited Vice-President of Frontex at the last minute was not able to attend, Fernando Carillo President of the Spanish Police Union AUGC delivered a speech on the current illegal immigration situation on the Canary Islands which the EU and Frontex is facing. 

Towards common curriculum thanks to Cepol

Later in the morning Klaus Neidhardt, Head of the National Police School in Germany and German representative on the Cepol Management Board explained the structure of Cepol and the development of a common core curriculum for police education in the EU. 

Klaus Neidhardt, Head of the National Police School Germany,Cepol Management Board

“Cepol’ s aim is to help train senior police officers of the member states in a European approach in the fight against crime, crime prevention and the maintenance of law and order and public security, in particular the cross border dimensions”.

On the senior level work towards a common curriculum has started in cepol, but as far as the mid range and lower ranks goes there is still some work to be done, so Neidhardt.

Of particular importance according to Neidhardt, is to enable senior police officers to acquire relevant language skills, one of the reasons being to enable the exchange of information about police training, another to enable police officers to complete part of their training in another European country.

The Finnish State Secretary Kari Salmi followed suit and pointed out the importance of Cepol in Europe.

“Finland is determined to take an active role in the work of Cepol and its development. Cepol is our principal approach to international police training”.

In particular Salmi stressed the willingness to share expert information.

“Finland is willing to make its expertise on Russia widely available within the EU, in security matters too,” he said.

Finding solution to illegal immigration flows

Being present at the recent Justice and Home Affairs meeting in Tampere, the Finnish State Secretary was able to deliver a special report on the matters discussed there, especially the illegal immigration flows.
“What was remarkable in Tampere was that people were talking about the situation as a whole, for both destination countries and origin countries.”  
In particular the objectives on the short and long term to make a difference to affect the countries of origin were discussed.
“In the long run we can try to influence the countries of origin so they don’t have to leave. [And] we have to make sure that our border services are functioning alright.”
The “pull-factor”, pulling immigrants to Europe, was a major concern.
“The ‘pull-factor’ for many EU economies is the grey economy, where you have the notion that you can enter the job market very easily,” Salmi said.

Finnish solutions to EU problems

Holding the present EU-presidency, Finland has presented its solutions to solve the problem.
“Finland has brought forward the question of joint responsibility. There are regions that are targets because of their location and they should be supported by EU–funds.”
The importance of decision making on police issues based on a qualified majority was also mentioned.

Following a question on the matter posed by the President of EuroCOP Heinz Kiefer on the implementation and ratification of decisions slowing down joint crime fighting, Salmi added:
“The Finnish solution is very pragmatic: The idea is to make a quick decision to improve the flow of information within the police. This will make us work more efficiently towards a common goal to fight organized crime. If conditions are not provided for and we look after our individual objective then crime fighting is difficult.”  

Heinz Kiefer, President of EuroCOP

EuroCOP president Heinz Kiefer concluded the Enlargement Series, summarizing the important factors for police work in Europe.

“We need a fundamental discussion about a social Europe for the police as well. Without this it will not be possible to live up to the claim towards a joint area of freedom security and justice in the European Union. 

To be able to fulfil its duties towards the citizens, inner security, on the national and on the European level, is of utter importance.”  

Tetra/Digital Radio Special Feature report

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