NCJ Number
125001
Date Published
1990
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Several aspects of European cooperation have a clear police emphasis and are areas that will be brought into focus by the effects of the Single European Act, which will come into effect in 1992. However, the reverse side of the coin are the pressures that European integration will put on the existing British criminal justice and policing systems.
Abstract
The Pompidou Group was established in 1971 to provide a forum for coordinating action and exchanging views regarding international drug law enforcement efforts. The United Kingdom has taken a lead in establishing a number of drug liaison officers in other countries where illegal drugs are produced and handled with impressive results. The TREVI group has been an effective form of European cooperation in counterterrorism by bringing together policymakers and high ranking police officers. It has created a secure communication system among national police forces throughout Europe. The creation of a Europe without internal borders was motivated by economic reasons, but has law enforcement implications as well. These developments will put pressure on the British police service, which unlike its European counterparts, has not centralized government authority. Some of the issues the police service will face will be demands for a change in the structure of local government, the pressure to centralize police functions in light of the growing internationalization of serious crime, the expansion of fraud, and demands for common standards and policies and possibly the creation of federal European police agencies.