Combating crime in the digital age: from the physical world to cyberspace

With European Union citizens spending up to half of their waking hours online, criminals are increasingly abusing this domain. Criminal actors exploit the existing digital infrastructure to its fullest, leveraging technology and online systems to facilitate illegal activities while evading law enforcement. To prevent online communities from becoming lawless spaces, police forces will have to establish an online presence.

Europol’s Innovation Lab and the European Clearing Board’s Strategic Group on Online Policing have authored a concept paper on ‘policing in an online world’. Based on practical experience collected from partners across the EU, paired with academic insight and the discussion of wider societal trends, this concept paper delivers not only a situational snapshot but a set of guiding principles.The new concept paper is built on these guidelines, which should be exemplary in online interactions with citizens and the fight against criminal networks spreading into virtual communities. Law enforcement practitioners from across Europe contributed to these guidelines based on best-practice examples, core legal values and a fundamental understanding of their own role in our societies.The paper, which is available on Europol’s website, offers inspiration in how police can be present wherever citizens are online, delivering safety and protection much like in the physical world. It guides law enforcement in how to be visible and transparent, and how to create trust with hard-to-reach and at-risk target groups. Some recently established examples in various countries showcase that many citizens are more comfortable contacting the police online rather than calling over the phone. These findings emphasise the importance of lowering the threshold for citizens to contact the police.

Europol and its partners at the forefront of innovation

Europol was mandated in 2019 by the EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers to create an Innovation Lab to support the law enforcement community in the area of innovation. The Lab aims to identify, promote and develop concrete innovative solutions in support of the EU Member States’ operational work. These help investigators and analysts to make the most of the opportunities offered by new technology to avoid duplication of work, create synergies and pool resources. The activities of the Lab are directly linked to the strategic priorities as laid out in the Europol Strategy, which states that Europol shall be at the forefront of law enforcement innovation and research.The European Clearing Board for Innovation (EuCB) was launched by the Heads of Europol National Units (HENUs) in November 2020. It is composed of Single Points of Contact (SPoCs) from the Europol Innovation Lab, all EU Member States and the four Schengen-associated countries. SPoCs meet regularly in plenary meetings, during which they update each other on innovative projects and tools and decide on new joint collaboration activities.