Information is the raw material of police work

Federal Bureau of Criminal Investigations conference wants to improve international police co-operation; data-security commissioners warn of unrestrained integration.

"Crime fighting to grow together Europe:" Under this slogan the autumn conference of this year of the Federal Criminal Investigation Office (BKA) stood, which took place this week in Wiesbaden. While Federal Criminal Investigation Office head Ulrich Kersten warns of rapid growth of Internet crime, he said that it was not only criminals but also the police for whom the exchange of information is in first place.

"Information is the raw material of police work," says Juergen Storbeck. The Europol head wants to put police data "quickly and in high quality" at the disposal of European investigators. Storbeck presently works on a new Europol information system which will allow police officers in Europe to store and search decentralized data. To be installed in 2001, it is to begin operation in 2002. Investigative data and some historical data are to help co-ordination of operations and investigations.

The co-ordination is necessary, as demonstrated during the preparation of the Europol report on organized crime. 18 investigations were run against one criminal gang in Europe. Through Europol individual preliminary investigations of the French gendarmerie, the British tariff and the Swedish police could be coordinated. That is however not the only advantage which results from a common data pool. It also supports strategic analyses and the development of possible risk and threat analyses.

Still, co-operation of Europol with the individual states does alwasy function well. There were substantial problems with the production of the report on organized crime since the reports of the member states exhibited large quality differences, partly contradicted themselves and did not complement one another. Nevertheless, in the meantime, the report is finished but it cannot be published yet. In one state it must be submitted only to the Minister, in another only to the parliament.

According to Storbeck the present situation is to be improved only by active participation: Europol may not itself require information of the member states but must request it and wait for an answer. The resolutions of Tampere support Storbeck in his plans: They plan that Europol in the future take over the control of transnational operational investigations.

Only specialists are to perform surveillance like the intelligence services

That information exchange between the states often does not function is also an old song of Interpol head Raymond Kendall. Due to an inadequate security consciousness much important information was not passed on, deplores the Britisher, who has worked since 1971 at Interpol and since 1985 has been the Secretary-General. But "confidence among the investigators" is a necessarycondition for a successful fight of transnational crime. Those who withhold information about criminal organizations, lose. "We must change that way of thinking, if we want to survive in the next century," appealed Kendall.

He suggests taking over investigations and surveillance in each case by specialists. He does not see "the sense of introducing police officers to surveillance work if intelligence analysts who work in this area are qualified and more successful at it." Kendall has the British model in mind if he wants to give surveillance work to the specialist. In Britain there is no clear separation between interception operations which arecarried out by the police and customs authorities on one hand and by the intelligence services on the other hand. The intelligence services also partly support prosecutors in criminal investigations.

Due to this division of responsibilities in the European legal aid agreement, lacking in Great Britain, it does not want to agree with plans that the supervising member state informs the other member state concerned. For reasons of "national security" Great Britain wants to refrain from it.

Europol is to be able to make international agreements

It is nevertheless undisputed by all experts that an intelligent crime fight can take place only if there is a systematic information exchange between international prosecution authorities, as well as an exchange between police investigators and intelligence analysts. It is just as undisputed that due to the rapid rise of transnational organized crime strategic coordination between numerous international groups like the United Nations and the G-8 nations must be coordinated with the European Union and Interpol. Charles Elsen, general manager of the European council for interior and law, announced that the council on December 2 will authorize Europol to complete agreements with third states and other institutions. An agreement between Europol and Interpol will be the first to be completed.

Effects of the Schengen agreement not foreseeable

Also for data-security commissioners European co-operation is "undisputed necessary". The national data-security commissioner, Schleswig Holsteiner Helmet Baeumler, doubts however that someone has an overview of it at all, which means for example how the Schengen agreement reached in Amsterdam is put into practice. He warned against advancing integration of police work "inconsiderately" without paying attention thereby to the need for oversight of its own actions. "The scandal around the Enfopol papers is only one example of the fact that more oversight is desirable," says Baeumler. He demands further protection of citizen rights in parallel: "Anything else is not acceptable."

Translation by Cryptome with Systran. Thanks to Cryptome