Belgian Federal Police chief and European Union Cosi (Committee on Internal Security) president Fernand Koekelberg has stressed the need for injecting more professionalism and sophistication in the national police forces all over.
Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the 79th session of the Interpol Assembly at Doha Sheraton yesterday, the man currently co-ordinating policing activities among the 27 EU member countries said the highly professional approach of the Brussels-based Cosi team has yielded rich dividends to every member nation.
“Our teams have been successful in dealing with a number of issues such as cyber crime, cross-border terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering and drug abuse cases,” said Koekelberg. The achievements have been possible only because of the “highly professional approach of our teams”.
Koekelberg said the committee is a combination of different forms of police such as judicial, municipal and teams of the Gendarmerie, the French national police which has jurisdiction over the countryside and towns with a population of below 10,000.
He said the specialisation in the works of his teams consisting of members from 27 countries has helped the Belgian headquarters streamline the activities of its teams in a remarkable manner.
Eurojust, the judicial affiliate of Cosi, is a forum of personnel from member nations helping provide safety within an area of freedom, security and justice.
It was set up by the EU Council in 2002 to improve the fight serious crimes by facilitating the optimal co-ordination of action for investigations and prosecutions covering the territories of member states.
“The professionalism in its functioning has drawn into the Eurojust many experienced judges, prosecutors, and competent police officers as its members,” pointed out Koekelberg.
Similarly, Frontex, another EU agency, was set up as a specialised and independent body to co-ordinate the operational co-operation between the member states on the issue of border security.
“Its activities are very much intelligence-driven and the Warsaw-headquartered body complements and provides added value to the national border management systems of the member states,” said the Cosi president.
Europol, the European law enforcement agency aiming at improving the effectiveness and co-operation of the competent authorities in the member states, prevents and combats terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other forms of organised crimes taking place in member countries.
“Among its recent achievements are unearthing of multi-million euro credit scams involving an international crime group spread across France, Italy, Romania and Spain, and operations for rescuing 28 children in a major human trafficking incident in UK.
“We had the active support of such organisations as UK Metropolitan Police and the Romanian National Police (RNP) in rescuing the children.
“Currently we are working on a number of projects with the intention of changing the overall image of world police. Its benefits would go to every member of the Interpol.”
The Belgian police chief also recalled the peace missions of Cosi teams in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Burundi and Congo have come in for praise from various quarters.
“We are always prepared to provide and share our expertise with such countries as Qatar in their bid to strengthen and bringing utmost professionalism in work,” said Koekelberg.
http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=397741&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16
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