Combating Organized Crime in Europe: Practicalities of Police Cooperation

Ludo Block is a former Dutch police officer who from 1999 till 2004 served as the police liaison officer for the Dutch National Police Agency in Moscow. In this article he responds to claims that the extent of police cooperation in Europe is insufficient, stating that the extent to which such claims are justified is unclear, as most appear to be based on anecdotal evidence—systematic evaluations of police cooperation are scarce. With the aim of providing a better understanding of international police cooperation in combating organized crime, this article investigates practices of European police cooperation. Particular attention is given to a case study of a drug-trafficking investigation, the daily practices of police liaison officers, and joint investigation teams. These demonstrate that, notwithstanding room for improvement, extensive and successful police cooperation does exist in Europe. Various factors influencing police cooperation are identified and illustrate that it is a complex and dynamic field. It can therefore be concluded that claims about the state of play of European police cooperation based on anecdotal evidence are unable to present an accurate picture .