WELCOME MESSAGE
Making Steps towards Proactive and Integrated Policing
By Raivo Küüt, Director General of Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, Chair of the IACP World Regional Office (WRO) for the European Region
In the face of cross-border crime where behavioural patterns are no longer associated with one particular region or ethnic group, we - law enforcement officers- are in desperate need of a comprehensive platform allowing us to adopt a wider vision.
Crime is not a social phenomenon and tends to be not the cause, but a consequence. In order to fight it in the best possible way, we should start moving towards proactive and integrated policing.
In today’s Europe, tormented by the aftermath of financial crisis, intensified by continuously high rate of unemployment and acute social issues, the need to find sustainable solutions remains a pivotal task for the government agencies all over Europe.
Europe is growing more and more multicultural. Let us embrace it as an asset, enriching our present by forcing us to develop ways to ensure safe and secure living environment for all of our citizens and shaping our future perspectives towards a harmonized community where different ethnic groups can peacefully co-exist together regardless of their religious and cultural background. We owe it to our next generations to make every effort to prevent our streets from becoming a battle zone.
Estonian police have based their actions on four core values: professionalism, integrity, humanity, and cooperation. Even though law enforcement officers are the embodiment of the state and represent the position of power, it is through those core values that prevention and penal duties are perceived by the public as genuine caretaking and protection provided to all the members of the community, spreading understanding and trust instead of hostility and anger.
The importance of prevention work among children and adolescents cannot be overestimated. Young people as one of the most active groups in the society want to be noticed and appreciated. Their natural urge to make rebellious outbursts and pinpoint the problems should be seen as a valuable input and indicator for developing effective measures for preventing youth activism from evolving into mass disorder by addressing the issues on many institutional levels, especially schools, and taking timely measures for minimizing the risk of radicalization.
To that end, allow me to urge you to walk the extra mile, share even more extensively the experience that your country’s police officers have had in combating crime in cooperation with other ministries, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, local municipal governments, youth organizations, non-profit associations, and colleagues abroad. Long-lasting positive results can only be achieved by acknowledging the whole spectrum of social processes that are in various aspects reflected in the assigned responsibilities of police officers as one of the key guardians of peace and stability in the society.
Let us encourage each other to be even more socially involved, goal-oriented, and open to new perspectives. There are no easy answers and quick solutions, yet through active discussions and networking, ideas of proactive and integrated policing can be developed and made into reality. |
