05/08/2024
In a globalized and interconnected world, the only way to effectively combat organized crime is to internationalize the police forces dedicated to fighting this type of crime.
In order to create a system that allows for the internationalization of police investigations, it is necessary for the relevant investigative units to share information. In this way, with the contribution of information from neighboring countries, investigations are complemented, which leads to more effective results, not only in terms of specific data, but also in terms of working methodologies and modus operandi.
Within the framework of the European NETCOP II project, an activity was carried out in Senegal in which Spanish National Police officers participated in a training and simulation exercise for two Gambian investigative units.
These two Gambian investigative units have travelled to Saint Louis, Senegal for the activity. They are the Gambia Immigration Department (GID) and the National Agency to Combat Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP). These are the last investigative units to conduct the initial training of the NETCOP system, as the rest of the units involved are already introducing actual investigations into the system.
Regarding the second part of the activity, simulation exercises based on real situations and experiences were carried out in order to strengthen professional exchanges between researchers in the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking. This activity involved the above-mentioned units of The Gambia, the Central Office for the Repression of Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking in Human Beings (OCRTMTEH) of Mauritania and the National Division for the Fight against Smuggling of Migrants and Similar Practices (DNLT) of Senegal.
The objective was none other than to understand that working together yields far greater results than working individually and that sharing information benefits not only one but all those who share.
The fact of using local experts together with Spanish experts has boosted knowledge, fulfilling the objective of supporting the specialized police forces of the countries involved in the project, with technical training that will allow them to cooperate and coordinate with each other and thus strengthen the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking. Getting to know each other physically has been an important qualitative step.
The objective of the NETCOP project is to create a software tool that feeds a database to establish matches between data entered by units from different countries and coordinate joint investigations. Pre-training
The system allows to know if another connected unit may be investigating the same target. In case of such a “match”, the UNIs should establish contacts that could allow sharing such information and jointly coordinating investigations.
