A key part of Europol’s mission is to help ensure that Member States and partner organisations develop and maintain the capacities required to fight crimes in each major area.
The training that the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) provides to law enforcement in Member States is a key contributor to that objective. But there are others, in a range of areas.
Training and capacity-building
Europol offers or contributes to a range of other training and capacity-building activities, such as the following:
- It regularly hosts law enforcement interns from Member States, thus enabling them to deepen their understanding of Europol’s capabilities and international law enforcement cooperation.
- It supports numerous joint investigation teams (JITs).
- In cooperation with Eurojust and the JIT network secretariat, it hosts or otherwise supports meetings of national JIT experts, and contributes to training programmes that raise awareness of JITs, in particular at the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL).
- It provides forensic support to law enforcement agencies to determine the origin of materials and devices used for the manufacturing of counterfeit goods
- It provides technical support and training on tactical and technical issues related to protecting the euro from counterfeiting.
In cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Europol has also trained chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear experts and first responders from the civil and military services in both EU and non-EU countries on how to respond to radiological incidents and emergencies.
In 2008, Europol created the European Explosive Ordnance Disposal Network (EEODN). Twice a year, it hosts meetings for experts in explosives security from all EU countries, who are sometimes joined by experts from the United States, to share their knowledge, expertise and best practices in the fight against the illicit use of explosives and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Europol also regularly supports training for specialists in explosives and weapons of mass destruction from both inside and outside the EU. This training is part of the portfolio of courses that CEPOL offers, and co-funds with EUROPOL.
Training Themes and Topics
Each year, Europol also takes its roadshow to six or seven cities in the EU. Each show, or awareness seminar, presents the basics on Europol to audiences of up to several hundred law enforcement personnel. Presentations and workshops cover a variety of themes, depending on the audience, including:
- cybercrime
- payment fraud
- euro counterfeiting
- property crime
- counter-terrorism
- intelligence-led policing
The participants also learn how Europol is helping make Europe safer through the unique range of services it offers.
Europol also regularly holds a variety of workshops and other events on such topics as:
- migrant smuggling and financial investigations
- virtual currencies
- cross-border vehicle crime
- financial cybercrime.
EC3 training to combat cybercrime
The training that EC3 offers includes courses on open-source IT forensics , some of which use material developed by the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG). Others include representatives from private industry as keynote speakers and workshop facilitators.
EC3 also offers courses on:
- payment fraud
- payment card fraud forensics
- combating the online sexual exploitation of children.
The rapid development of cybercrime demands a quick and effective response from law enforcement across Europe. Part of EC3’s mission in this connection is two-fold:
- to help train law enforcement authorities in the latest methods of combating cybercrime;
- to ensure that all such authorities across the EU have full access to the tools they need to fight cybercrime effectively.
To these ends, the EC3 works closely with CEPOL, and with the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG) and other partners.
Some courses are also open to law enforcement authorities outside the EU.
Course offerings on tackling cybercrime
Among the courses that EC3 has offered under the aforementioned rubrics are the following:
- a course at the Spanish National Police Academy in Avila on open-source IT forensics;
- a course in Selm, Germany, that offered training on combatting child sexual exploitation and that was offered by Focal Point Twins, a team of specialists in EC3 that helps combat all forms of criminal online behaviour against children;
- a course on payment fraud forensics and investigations at the Spanish National Police Academy;
- in close cooperation with Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, a course for forensic experts on examining skimming devices.