POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS
SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE
From 20 November to 13 December, the Mission facilitated
five workshops on hate speech for around 100 KP officers
from all police regions. The workshops brought together
police investigators and community policing officers
to broaden their knowledge on local and international
legislation, human rights standards applicable to hate speech,
and discuss the difference between hate speech and hate
crime. The workshops additionally focused on providing a
concise overview of hate speech in relation to cases described
as hate speeches. Participants actively engaged in detailed
and productive discussions, and were able to identify the
distinction between freedom of expression and hate speech
in line with international human rights standards at the
conclusion of workshops.
On 29 and 30 November, the Mission supported the final
review workshop of an inter-institutional agreement
between the MoIA, KP, the Prosecutor’s Office and KJC in
addressing hate crimes. In line with international human
rights standards and existing domestic legal framework, all
four entities provided their inputs on the document focusing
on their roles and responsibilities in recording hate crimes.
Following this workshop, the representing parties will present
the document to their institutions for final approval in early
2018. As a result of continuous Mission advocacy, the MoIA
is expected to nominate a focal point on hate crimes, who
will serve as a co-ordinator of the working group established
to execute the agreement and activities, in order to further
improve the recording of and response to hate crimes.
Specialized Investigations Units /
Forensics
From 7 to 9 November, the Mission facilitated a research
visit to the Swedish Police in Stockholm for five KP
representatives on video analysis and mobile phone forensics.
Participants learned how the Swedish police collects,
processes and analyses the video material obtained from
crime scenes, public transportation surveillance cameras,
private security and other surveillance cameras. Moreover,
the study group learned about the hardware and software
employed by the Swedish Police for such purposes, as well
as the process of extracting and recovering information from
cellular phones in accordance with forensic standards.
From 29 November to 1 December, the Mission facilitated
a research visit for five senior Kosovo Agency on Forensic
(KAF) officials to the Croatian Forensics Institute in Zagreb.
Accompanied by the Mission, the delegation included the
Chief Executive Officer, Director of the DNA Department
and quality assurance officers of the KAF. During the visit, the
delegation met with their Croatian counterparts and discussed
potential co-operation opportunities in terms of specialized
and advanced forensics science training. Furthermore, both
institutes discussed obtaining international accreditation
for services delivered to the law enforcement and judicial
authorities, and agreed on the need and mutual benefits in
supporting one another in future accreditation processes.
The delegation also visited the Croatian forensics laboratories
of biology and toxicology.
From 5 to 7 December, Mission representatives took part in
the workshop in Tirana for reviewing the KAF Development
Strategy 2016-2020. Senior KAF officials, MoIA political
and legal advisors, and international experts gathered in this
workshop to identify achievements and deficiencies in the
implementation process of this strategy for 2017. Specific
consideration was given to the assessment of objectives related
to development of human resources and improvement of
KAF’s technical capacities to perform forensic examinations.
In conclusion, the working group drafted an evaluation
report with conclusions and recommendations for further
implementation of the strategy in 2018.
Activities Related to Threats
Posed by Criminal Activity
Organized Crime
From 23 to 26 October, following a series of working group
meetings to draft the Strategy and Action Plan against
Organized Crime 2018-2022, the Mission also attended
the workshop in Albania to finalize this strategy, facilitated
by the EU Office in Kosovo. Members of all relevant local
institutions and international stakeholders assembled to
thoroughly discuss the content of the draft strategy, and
determine its strategic and specific objectives, as well as to
ensure activities in its action plan comply with international
standards. The Mission played an active role in finalizing
the document, by providing valuable comments and inputs
during all working sessions, as well as in addressing certain
deficiencies encountered in the previous strategy.
Criminal Investigations and Analysis
From 23 to 26 January, the Mission organized a training
course on NVivo13 software for six KP analysts, which
equipped them with knowledge in entering, researching
and analysing various intelligence items using a computeraided methodology. This training module enhanced skills of
the analysts to draft a Serious and Organized Crime Threat
13
NVivo software supports qualitative and mixed methods research. It is designed to
help organize, analyze and find insights in unstructured or qualitative data like:
interviews, open-ended survey responses, articles, social media and web content.
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