Public opinion and policy on crime prevention in Europe

In this second monitor report the focus is put on people’s perceptions and attitudes on the one hand, and on priorities in crime prevention policies across Europe on the other hand. What does the general public think about the police: their relationship with the communities, their effectiveness in preventing crime, their fairness with which they wield their authoritative power, their integrity,...? What do Europeans think of the effectiveness of policies on the different levels (national vs. European)? What do they believe to be the challenges to the security in the prevention and fight against crime? These are some questions approached in this report. The information and data used to answer these questions come from the Trust in the Police & Courts Module of the European Social Survey and from the Eurobarometer surveys conducted by the European Commission. Besides these existing survey data, the EUCPN Secretariat collected some additional data from the EUCPN members on the priorities in the crime prevention policies in their countries. More specifically, questions were asked about the country’s top three priorities in crime prevention policy/strategy and compared to the country’s three most prominent crime problems based on crime statistics. Also, it was examined whether or not the top three priorities in the country’s crime prevention policy were based on statistical or recorded data, or – if not – what other basis was used to pick these priorities. And finally, some questions were added about any remarkable or new developments in the Member States over the past five years

Community (oriented) policing in Europe: concepts, theory and practice

This second toolbox in the series published by the EUCPN Secretariat focuses on the main theme of the Cyprus Presidency, which is community policing. The theme is explored and elaborated in four different ways, through: a theoretical paper; a survey among the European Member States on the organisation of community policing in their country, followed by an in-depth discussion during two round table sessions; a workshop/ seminar with various experts and a particular focus on radicalisation, or which role community policing can play in the prevention of radicalisation, which is an important European issue and priority; and finally, a bundling of this year’s European Crime Prevention Award’s (ECPA) entries as a list of examples of good practices across Europe

Crime prevention activities at the EU, national and local level

The European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN) was set up on 30 November 2009 by Council Decision 2009/902/JHA repealing the establishing Council Decision 2001/427/JHA. The Network grew in the EU policy context on Member States’ initiatives. The Network consists of a Board, with a rotating Chair, an Executive Committee and the National Representatives from all Member States with their Substitutes if appointed; a permanent Secretariat as well as National Contact Points appointed by each Member State. The EUCPN Secretariat is hosted by Belgium in the project ‘Towards a European Centre of Expertise on Crime Prevention’ financially supported by the Prevention of and Fight against Crime Programme of the European Commission – Directorate-General Home Affairs. In line with the Council Decision, a Multiannual Strategy sets out the longterm orientations for the Network. The EUCPN’s vision is to be a primary source of crime prevention within the EU. Therefore, the Network contributes to developing the various aspects of crime prevention at the European Union level, taking into account the European Union crime preventive strategy, and supports crime prevention activities and good practices at the national and local level. The EUCPN Best Practice Conference and the European Crime Prevention Award (ECPA) are just two of the prestigious and highquality activities the EUCPN organizes annually, and which offer a platform for policymakers and practitioners to meet each other and share experiences. Through internal and external evaluations of the Network, which are scheduled on a regular basis, feedback on the functioning of the EUCPN is provided and recommendations are formulated to further professionalize and improve its performance. These will support the Network in carrying out its long-term mission and turn it into an important reference when it comes to crime prevention in Europe

Tackling domestic violence in the EU - Policies & practices

This thematic paper is a general introduction to the theme of domestic violence and violence against women. It is written in the framework of the fourth EUCPN Toolbox1. The paper builds on existing research and provides information on how legislative and policy measures are developed in the EU and its Member States to prevent and combat domestic violence against women. It includes the legislative and policy measures which set the framework in which national and local actors (NGOs, civil society, government administrations,…) need to work. At the same time, it wants to highlight the important work which is being done by other European organizations, such as the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the Women against Violence Europe (WAVE). The paper is primarily written for local policy-makers and practitioners who may be confronted with these issues in their daily work

European Crime Prevention Monitor 2012/1 - European cross-country crime statistics, surveys and reports

This report is a start up of a series of European Crime Prevention Monitor reports published every six months, presenting information on crime situations and crime trends based on statistics, surveys and reports. This first report presents findings from different international cross-country crime statistics, surveys and reports. A summary of some data, reports and on the major findings is outlined and presented with a focus on the 27 European Member States where possible. The aim of this report is to provide a quick and substantial, but selected overview of the situation and trends on crime and crime prevention in European Member States from the perspectives of the used data and literature. Target groups are local, national and European practitioners and policy makers. This report does not claim to be exhaustive. There are more statistics, surveys and reports which were not considered for this report. The data used has been published elsewhere and is not originally collected by the EUCPN. However, the information used in this report is analysed and presented in accordance with the needs of the target groups and the strategy of the EUCPN

European Crime Prevention Monitor 2012/2: Public opinion and policy on crime prevention in Europe

The first report in the European Crime Prevention Monitor series gave an overview of general European developments in crime and crime statistics, based on international cross-country statistics, surveys and reports (EUCPN, 2012a). Four different data sources were highlighted, with focus on recorded crime rates, victimisation data, self-reported delinquency measures and qualitative data. In this second monitor report the focus is put on people’s perceptions and attitudes on the one hand, and on priorities in crime prevention policies across Europe on the other hand. What does the general public think about the police: their relationship with the communities, their effectiveness in preventing crime, their fairness with which they wield their authoritative power, their integrity,...? What do Europeans think of the effectiveness of policies on the different levels (national vs. European)? What do they believe to be the challenges to the security in the prevention and fight against crime? These are some questions approached in this report. The information and data used to answer these questions come from the Trust in the Police & Courts Module of the European Social Survey and from the Eurobarometer surveys conducted by the European Commission. Besides these existing survey data, the EUCPN Secretariat collected some additional data from the EUCPN members on the priorities in the crime prevention policies in their countries. More specifically, questions were asked about the country’s top three priorities in crime prevention policy/strategy and compared to the country’s three most prominent crime problems based on crime statistics. Also, it was examined whether or not the top three priorities in the country’s crime prevention policy were based on statistical or recorded data, or – if not – what other basis was used to pick these priorities. And finally, some questions were added about any remarkable or new developments in the Member States over the past five years

European cross-country crime statistics, surveys and reports

This report is a start up of a series of European Crime Prevention Monitor reports published every six months, presenting information on crime situations and crime trends based on statistics, surveys and reports. This first report presents findings from different international cross-country crime statistics, surveys and reports. A summary of some data, reports and on the major findings is outlined and presented with a focus on the 27 European Member States where possible. The aim of this report is to provide a quick and substantial, but selected overview of the situation and trends on crime and crime prevention in European Member States from the perspectives of the used data and literature. Target groups are local, national and European practitioners and policy makers. This report does not claim to be exhaustive. There are more statistics, surveys and reports which were not considered for this report. The data used has been published elsewhere and is not originally collected by the EUCPN. However, the information used in this report is analysed and presented in accordance with the needs of the target groups and the strategy of the EUCPN

European Crime Prevention Monitor 2013/1: Priorities in crime prevention policies across Europe

In the European Crime Prevention Monitor 2012/2 (EUCPN, 2012b), the EUCPN Secretariat collected information from the Member States on their main priorities in the crime prevention policy/strategy in their countries. Obviously, each country has its own strategy and approach regarding crime prevention. Whereas some countries pay specific attention to certain crime types in their prevention strategy, others – like e.g., the Czech Republic, Denmark and the United Kingdom – have a broad and general preventative approach at the national level, with more room to focus on local crime prevention priorities. Overall, the crime types which were considered most in the various prevention policies are: 1. Property crimes (i.e. burglaries, theft); 2. Crimes against the person (i.e. violence, domestic violence); 3. Juvenile delinquency; 4. Drug use; and 5. Violent crime. In this third Monitor, we will have a closer look at some of these crime types which are currently prioritised by the Member States and which were identified in the previous Monitor (EUCPN, 2012b). For this, we will draw upon some of the findings of the International Crime Victimization Survey of 2005 and 2010 (ICVS), Eurostat’s Statistics in Focus 2013, the Statistical Bulletin 2013 of the European Monitoring Centre for Drug and Drug Addiction and the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs 2011 (ESPAD)

European Crime Prevention Monitor 2014/1: Measuring corruption in the EU

In this fifth monitor the European Crime and Prevention Network focusses on corruption. Corruption is estimated to cost the EU economy 120 billion EUR per year. It does not only hamper economic development, but also undermines democracy, and damages social justice and the rule of law in general (European Commission, 2014). It is a broad, complex and multifaceted phenomenon, which covers a wide range of phenomena. Therefore it is not easy to get an overview of the phenomenon. To amend this, this monitor report provides an overview of the relevant existing data available on corruption at the EU level and also focuses on the main trends and levels of perceptions, experiences and recorded levels of corruption in the EU Member States

Evaluation of crime prevention initiatives

This third toolbox in the series published by the EUCPN Secretariat focuses on the main theme of the Irish Presidency, which is the evaluation of crime prevention initiatives. The theme is explored and elaborated in various ways through: a literature review; two workshops with international experts and practitioners during which the strengths and weaknesses of programme evaluation were discussed in detail; a screening of existing guidelines and manuals on evaluation; and finally, a call which was launched by the EUCPN Secretariat to the Member States to collect some practices on the evaluation of crime prevention initiatives