Details
- Publication date
- 2 August 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs
- Country
- Spain
- RAN Publications Topic
- Community policing
Description
Some say that violent extremism and terrorism are illegal acts and averting them is part of crime prevention. In reality, there are often differences in the way their prevention is organised. What are the advantages and disadvantages of merging crime prevention (CP) and the prevention and countering of radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism? How, and under which conditions, would CP be a wise choice?
On 6 and 7 June 2024, the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) Police and Law Enforcement Working Group (RAN POL) organised a meeting for a group of (police) experts, mostly with experience in the field of P/CVE and CP. Here they discussed if, or to what extent, the domains of “regular” crime prevention and PVE can be brought together. On the first day of this meeting, participants were asked to reflect on the benefits as well as the challenges that arise from combining these two fields. On the second day, the experts got together in smaller groups to draft possible strategies for mainstreaming or integrating PVE in (generic) crime prevention. Some of the key outcomes are listed below.
- Crime prevention was already established when P/CVE was starting. In that sense P/CVE was building on the legacy of CP. In the last fifteen years, after the terror attacks in Europe, resources and energy were invested in developing, innovating and implementing P/CVE, however generic crime prevention could be the best of both worlds.
- There are clear benefits from mainstreaming or merging CP and P/CVE, but only if it is done in a way that mitigates the disadvantages. It requires strategies for building from the bottom up, while honouring the difference between the phenomena.
- Generic crime prevention takes place at the three level of the prevention pyramid (Primary, secondary and tertiary). The activities at each level need a collaboration between multiple actors, of which the police are only one. The police play a role at each level but make the biggest impact in secondary prevention.
- The participants sketched in different team drafts scenarios for generic crime prevention, and the role and contribution of police.
