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Migration and Home Affairs
  • News announcement
  • 19 January 2024
  • Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs
  • 1 min read

Call for participants: RAN POL WG meeting ‘Which police strategies and tactics can contribute to the prevention and countering of radicalisation of protest movements?’

Thursday 14 and Friday 15 March 2024, lunch to lunch, face2face meeting

RAN POL

On behalf of the Working Group Leaders Marzena Kordaczuk-Was and Luc Van Der Taelen, we are asking for your support. We are looking for suitable police officers with expertise in strategies and tactics for preventing and countering the radicalisation of protest movements.

Aim and focus of the meeting

This meeting will leverage insights from previous RAN POL Working Group meetings, including the Scenario Planning and Police Capacities  (May 2023) and the introductory training on the Dialogue Police approach (November 2023). Building upon these findings, we will focus on strategies and approaches for police to uphold public order and a healthy democracy.

We will address the diverse groups within protest movements, aiming to prevent the latter from developing and using extremist tactics. We will mainly focus on the effective police strategies and tactics that support the prevention and countering of violent radicalisation of these protest movements.

Background 

Protests across Europe, involving various groups like farmers and climate activists, are escalating, with radicalised environmental extremists resorting to violent tactics. At the same time, the rising polarisation around migration and identity politics poses challenges for governments, which face a rise in anti-institutionalist tendencies. In this context, the human-rights based police faces the complex task of facilitating peaceful demonstrations while being viewed with distrust and hostility by anti-institutionalist groups, with individual officers being doxed and intimidated. As conflicts may intensify in a polarised society, strategies to tackle these issues and understand the dynamics within the current protest movements are required.

RAN emphasises prevention of radicalisation within these movements, as some groups within them might be considering the use of extremist violence. This necessitates a careful consideration of tactics like dialogue policing, strategic communications, and intelligence to support PCVE efforts.

Call for participants

We are looking for experts from police with experience in addressing the role of law enforcement in a polarised society with anti-institutionalism. Specifically, we are interested in officers with expertise in strategies and tactics to prevent and counter the radicalisation of protest movements.

Deadline

14 February 2024. Please email s [dot] lenosatradaradvies [dot] nl (Steven LENOS) and m [dot] shahhoudatradaradvies [dot] nl (Malaz SHAHHOUD) or use this registration link.

Practical 

  • The meeting will be held in English, without interpretation. 
  • Transportation, hotel, and meals during the meeting will be provided by RAN Practitioners

Sources

Details

Publication date
19 January 2024
Author
Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs