News

From:Home Office and Sarah Newton MP First published:16 September 2016 The Home Office today launched a programme of support for frontline organisations working to challenge extremism in their communities

From:Home Office, Department for Communities and Local Government and Ministry of Justice First published:26 July 2016Last updated:16 September 2016 The government’s plan for dealing with hate crime in England and Wales.

This research report presents findings on the longitudinal costs of criminal offending for a sample of 386 male offenders in Ontario whose offence costs were tabulated for a 15-year period, between the ages of 12 and 26 years. The information contained in the report is useful for cost benefit analysis, which provides information about what types of crime prevention interventions are the most cost-effective.

June 15–17, 2017 Sookmyung Women's University, Seoul, Korea Hosted by Korean Academic Council on the United Nations System (KACUNS)

The ACUNS Dissertation Fellowship Award recognizes emerging students of extraordinary potential who have reached the stage of writing an advanced graduate-level dissertation on a topic of direct and demonstrable relevance to the United Nations and/or the UN system.

The ACUNS Vienna Liaison Office has worked for the last five years to raise awareness about these heinous unprosecuted crimes, which for many years had been silently witnessed by UN Member States. “Violence against Women is not a Force of Nature–it can be stopped.” “This convention is set to bring practical changes that should ultimately improve the lives of women and girls across Europe.” – Gauri van Gulik

Ensuring that anti-corruption ideals are built directly into education is one of the surest ways to tackle this crime and build societies where respect for the rule of law is firmly embedded. Around this, and drawing from UNODC's extensive anti-corruption work, the Office kicked off a two-day workshop in Tunisia, held jointly with the Doha-based Rule Of Law and Anti-corruption Center. [

ollowing up on the spirit of the recent meeting on Large Movements of Migrants and Refugees which took place during the General Assembly in New York, UNODC and the South African Ministry of Home Affairs launched GLO.ACT in the country. South Africa is one of 13 countries selected to participate in this effort, in part due to its importance as a source, transit, and destination country for both trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants. [

"We cannot allow the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War to be exploited as a business opportunity," said UNODC Chief Yury Fedotov in his remarks at the opening of the United Nations High-level meeting for Refugees and Migrants at the 71st UN General Assembly. Mr. Fedotov was speaking in the first of two contributions to world leaders and heads of state gathered at the summit.

he Pacific is increasingly vulnerable to exploitation by transnational organized crime, law enforcement agencies in the region are largely unable to manage territorial borders, and governments and regional organizations are struggling to address the situation, according to a comprehensive report launched recently by the UNODC.

Practitioners from South Eastern Europe and international experts gathered in Budva, Montenegro, at a UNODC-organized Criminal Asset Identification Conference held on 19 and 20 September. Participants at the meeting are sharing and starting the implementation of best practices in identifying assets acquired through criminal enterprise. Identifying these assets is a critical first step in the process to deprive criminals of their ill-gotten assets.

This database is based on news reports, public records, Internet databases and original reporting.

Story by: Robin Hofmann

Cyber Security is a Shared Responsibility STOP. THINK. CONNECT. ECSM is the EU’s annual advocacy campaign that takes place in October and aims to raise awareness of cyber security threats, promote cyber security among citizens and provide up to date security information, through education and sharing of good practices.

Drug & Alcohol Addiction Costs Americans $276 Billion a Year Americans spend an estimated $276 billion every year drinking, smoking and taking drugs, according to a recent analysis. To give that huge figure some perspective, that’s more than the federal government spent in 2015 on education and veterans’ benefits combined. About half of the spending goes toward alcohol and nicotine, according to the analysis by Addiction-Treatment.com, a Santa Monica, California-based organization that helps connect people with substance abuse disorders with treatment providers. 2016-10-05 ajc.com

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided on 26 September 2007, to declare a ''European Day against the Death Penalty,'' which is held annually on 10 October. The Council of Europe has been a pioneer in the abolition process which has made Europe a de facto death-penalty-free zone since 1997. The day is a European contribution to the World Day against the Death Penalty, which is held annually on the same day.

Alternatives to Detention - future direction and methods The members of the Criminal Justice Platform Europe (EuroPris, European Forum for Restorative Justice and CEP) warmly invite you to attend a one day workshop on Alternatives to Detention on 3 November in Barcelona. The workshop will enable experts in the field of criminal justice to consider the content and implications of the revised European Rules on Community Sanctions and Measures of the Council of Europe and to consider the latest developments in alternatives to detention across Europe's prison and probation systems. The event will be a combination of presentations and participative workshops. WHO SHOULD ATTEND Leaders and senior managers from criminal justice organisations - prisons, probation, youth justice, victims, community. Policy and Research - people leading the thinking on interventions and the challenges of policy. This event is intended for the public sector only. THE PROGRAMME Will comprise of presentations and workshops led by experts from all over Europe. The agenda will cover information on activities at a European level and will further focus on national experiences from a theoretical and practical perspective. Download the programme >> REGISTRATION Registration should be completed in advance following this link until 25 October latest. Register here >> As the event is co-financed by the Criminal Justice Platform Europe, the Justice Program of the European Union and the Centre for Legal Studies - there is NO CHARGE to attend the event. Registration is free and will be on a 'first come first served' basis. Places are restricted, so you must reserve your place as early as possible. Participants will need to meet their own travel and accommodation costs.

What is CPTED? Reconnecting theory with application in the words of users and abusers Occasional Seminar presented by Leanne Monchuk This seminar is based on findings from interviews with incarcerated, adult, male burglars and ten Designing out Crime Officers, in England and Wales. The findings reveal key similarities between the users and abusers of CPTED, confirming and elevating the significance of features such as surveillance. However, other features of design traditionally considered as critical to burglary risk are given less importance.

The Issue There are 1.1 billion girls today, a powerful constituency for shaping a sustainable world that’s better for everyone. They are brimming with talent and creativity. But their dreams and potential are often thwarted by discrimination, violence and lack of equal opportunities. There are glaring gaps in data and knowledge about the specific needs and challenges that girls face. What gets counted, gets done. The theme for this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, on 11 October, “Girls’ Progress = Goals’ Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement”, is a call for action for increased investment in collecting and analyzing girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data. One year into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, improving data on girls and addressing the issues that are holding them back is critical for fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals One such issue that is standing in the way of girls’ progress is child marriage. The data is daunting—one in three girls in developing countries (except China) get married before they turn 18. Girls who are child brides miss out on education, are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, and bear children before they are physically or emotionally prepared. The cycle of violence that begins in girlhood, carries over into womanhood and across generations. The 2030 Agenda must address their needs and unlock their potential. UN Women works around the world to empower women and girls and raise awareness on their rights, advocate for the adoption and implementation of laws and policies that prohibit and prevent child marriage, and mobilize communities against the practice.

There's an alternative to our current, failing criminal justice system.

To end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, the global response to HIV must leave no one behind, including people who inject drugs. It requires drug policies and HIV-related prevention, treatment, care and support services that meet both the human rights and the health needs of people who inject drugs. Estimates show that worldwide there are approximately 12 million people who inject drugs, 1.6 million (14%) of whom are living with HIV and 6 million (50%) of whom are living with hepatitis C. HIV prevalence among women who inject drugs is often greater than among their male peers. UNAIDS estimates that 140 000 people who inject drugs were newly infected with HIV globally in 2014 and there has been no decline in the annual number of new HIV infections among people who inject drugs between 2010 and 2014.

World Health Summit – Day Three: A Call to Action World Health Summit – Day Three: A Call to Action (Berlin, October 12, 2016) On Monday, the eighth World Health Summit concluded in Berlin with a record number of participants and a clear call to action. 1,800 participants from more than 90 countries attended the preeminent international conference for Global Health. For three days, more than 250 speakers presented new developments in health in more than 40 sessions. Central topics: Migration and Refugee Health; Big Data and Technological Innovation in Healthcare; Infectious Diseases and Lessons Learned from Ebola to Zika; Women, Empowerment and Health. WHS President Prof. Dr. Detlev Ganten: “These three days were permeated by an atmosphere of international cooperation across all borders. Participants included decision-makers from academia, politics, the private sector, and civil society, including four Ministers of Health and two Nobel Prize laureates”. At the closing ceremony the M8 Alliance, the World Health Summit’s academic think tank, issued a declaration calling on heads of state and governments to invest in people and to ensure that no one is left behind. Key demands of the M8 Alliance Declaration: - Around the world, 130 million people need humanitarian aid, more than 60 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Strategies for continuous medical support need to be developed. - Antimicrobial resistance constitutes one of the central health challenges of today. To find sustainable solutions, cooperation has to be intensified on an international, national and regional level. - There can be no progress in global health without addressing the health, education and empowerment of women and girls. Women have to have control of their life choices and bodily integrity. This includes the right of women to modern family planning. The M8 Alliance Declaration is available online: http://bit.ly/M8-Declaration_2016 Under the high patronage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the WHS is the premiere international platform for exploring strategic developments and decisions in the area of healthcare. Video recordings and photographs, free of attribution, will be available at: http://www.worldhealthsummit.org For further information on speakers and topics see: http://www.worldhealthsummit.org/the-summit/speakers http://www.worldhealthsummit.org/the-summit/program Save the Date: World Health Summit 2017 October 15-17 Berlin

University of Cambridge Research Preliminary results from eight UK and US police forces reveal rates of assault against officers are 15% higher when they use body-worn cameras. The latest findings, from one of the largest randomised-controlled trials in criminal justice research, highlight the need for cameras to be kept on and recording at all stages of police-public interaction – not just when an individual officer deems it necessary – if police use-of-force and assaults against police are to be reduced

Published: 12 Oct 2016 Smartphones and social media have made it easy for accidental witnesses “in the wrong place at the wrong time” to capture and share violations and crimes. But how can we tell what’s real and what’s fake?

Year-long study of almost 2,000 officers across UK and US forces shows introduction of wearable cameras led to a 93% drop in complaints made against police by the public – suggesting the cameras result in behavioural changes that ‘cool down’ potentially volatile encounters. There can be no doubt that body-worn cameras increase the transparency of frontline policing. Anything that has been recorded can be subsequently reviewed, scrutinised and submitted as evidence — Barak Ariel Body-worn cameras are fast becoming standard kit for frontline law enforcers, trumpeted by senior officers and even the US President as a technological ‘fix’ for what some see as a crisis of police legitimacy. Evidence of effectiveness has, however, been limited in its scope. Now, new results from one of the largest randomised-controlled experiments in the history of criminal justice research, led by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology, show that the use by officers of body-worn cameras is associated with a startling 93% reduction in citizen complaints against police.

A summary of the article written by Marcelo F Aebi, Natalia Delgrande and Yann Marguet from the University of Lausanne, published in 2015 in “Punishment & Society”, is presented below. Community Sanctions and Measures (CSM) were created to reduce the prison population and to improve offenders reintegration. Having analyzed data from 29 European countries the authors of the article want to determine whether CSMs are used as an alternative to prison or as supplementary measures. The authors state that during the last 20 years with the implementation of CSMs the number of prisoners has, in fact, increased and as a result there are more people subject to correctional control or drawn into the criminal justice system. Many researchers have described this phenomenon as the “net widening effect”. The authors of the article use the conceptualization provided by John Muncie who defines it as: “the processes whereby attempts to prevent crime and develop community-based corrections act to expand the criminal justice system and draw more subjects into its remit” (Muncie, 2001:262).

Prison expert Isabel Hight talks about the challenges of building jails that meet humanitarian standards in countries where ‘large scale imprisonment is seen as a western concept’

The report highlights its research on an impressive array of topics including child exploitation, cybercrime, deaths in custody, domestic and family violence, fraud, homicide, human trafficking and slavery, identity crime, methamphetamine use, missing persons, police officer safety, public sector corruption and unexplained wealth. In 2015–16, the AIC published 59 research products, 27 reports and 16 peer–reviewed reports. Published: ‎13‎.‎10‎.‎2016

Susan Goldsmid and Matthew Willis ISSN 1836-2206 Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, October 2016 This paper examines the engagement in acquisitive crime, and perceived motivations for methamphetamine-driven crime, of a sample of Australian police detainees recruited in 2013 through the Drug Use Monitoring in Australia program. Published: ‎19‎.‎10‎.‎2016

Published on October 05, 2016 Also available in: French This is the eighth edition of Society at a Glance, the biennial OECD overview of social indicators. This report addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends. It updates some indicators included in the previous editions published since 2001 and introduces several new ones, with 25 indicators in total. It includes data for the 35 OECD member countries and where available data for key partners (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa); other G20 countries (Argentina and Saudi Arabia) are also included. The report features a special chapter on the NEET challenge and what can be done for jobless and disengaged youth. It also provides a guide to help readers in understanding the structure of OECD social indicators. All indicators are available as a web book and an e-book on OECD iLibrary.

WOMEN AGAINST VIOLENCE EUROPE Step Up! Europe – Unite to end violence against women and their children CONFERENCE VENUE: Wednesday, 19th October 2016: City Hall, Berlin / Berliner Rathaus Rathausstraße 15, 10178 Berlin (wheelchair access: Jüdenstraße 1) Thursday, 20th and Friday, 21st October 2016: Stadtmission Lehrter Straße 68, 10557 Berlin THE LANGUAGE OF THE CONFERENCE IS ENGLISH with simultaneous translation English-German on Wednesday PRE-CONFERENCE WELCOME DRINK Tuesday, 18th October at 19:00: Festsaal Stadtmission WAVE

ICPC is pleased to announce the publication of the fifth edition of its International Report. An Executive Summary is also available in English, French and Spanish. The fifth edition of the International Report on Crime Prevention and Community Safety develops, from the urban perspective, various topics relevant to the current context in cities. As with previous editions of the Report, the first chapter is a constant of ICPC’s International Reports, reviewing major trends in crime and in its prevention. The following two chapters address the relationship between the urban setting and the prevention of crime through two distinct lenses: the first gives a general overview of the issues and major trends facing cities; the second, in contrast, offers a comparative perspective, particularly in relation to national-local relationships in the Latin American context. The final three chapters address three fundamental topics on the prevention of urban crime: public transport, the prevention of drug-related crime, and the prevention of violent radicalization. Published every two years since 2008, the International Report has become a point of reference providing information and tools to help governments, local authorities, international organizations and other actors implement successful crime prevention policies in their countries, cities and communities. The Report is currently available in English; French and Spanish versions will follow.

Brussels, 12 October 2016 Today the European Commission is presenting the first in a series of monthly reports on progress made towards an effective and sustainable Security Union. The report outlines the Commission's efforts in the fight against terrorism, organised crime and cybercrime and the work undertaken to strengthen the EU's resilience against these threats. It also highlights the priority areas where more work is needed and sets out concrete operational measures for the months to come. Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "The fragmentation of our security framework makes us all vulnerable. The dots have to be connected within and between Member States, but also between Member States and EU Agencies, and between the different security and border management systems. The internal security of one Member State is the internal security of all. In this rapidly changing security environment, delivering on a genuine and effective Security Union means delivering on all elements." Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King said: "Terrorists don't target one member state or another. They target our way of life, our openness, our future. Our response needs to be comprehensive and sustainable, building on trust and the effective cooperation between institutions and Member States." The report underlines the need to implement existing EU legislation and to accelerate the work on security related proposals presented by the Commission. The Commission's work will focus on strengthening the fight against terrorism by depriving terrorists of the means to commit attacks and enhancing our defence and resilience against these threats. The main priority areas are: Improving the legal framework and preventing and fighting radicalisation: To this end, an agreement should be reached before the end of the year on the Commission's proposal for a Directive on combating terrorism. The Directive is vital to ensure that the EU's legal framework can tackle terrorist threats effectively, in particular threats posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters. An agreement should also be reached before the end of the year on the revision of the Firearms Directive. The Commission will continue to urge the co-legislators to maintain the level of ambition, particularly the objective to ban the most dangerous semi-automatic firearms. The Commission has taken action to reduce access to precursors that can be used to make homemade explosives and ensure full implementation of the Regulation on the marketing and use of explosive precursors. To this effect, additional precursor substances of concern to be included in the Regulation have been identified and will be added to the list of substances subject to enhanced control by the Commission in November. Improving information exchange, strengthening information systems and enhancing security at the external borders: Member States should urgently take the necessary steps to build their Passenger Information Units (PIUs) to ensure that they are able to implement fully the EU PNR Directive at the latest by May 2018, the deadline for full implementation of the Directive. To support Member States to accelerate their work, the Commission will make available an additional €70 million in EU funding and will present an implementation plan by November 2016 including milestones that Member States will need to meet in order to have their PIUs up and running. To strengthen the fight against cross border crime, the Commission has also in September initiated infringement procedures against Member States who had not yet implemented the Prüm Decisions. The Commission will also take the necessary steps to enable the European Counter Terrorism Centre at Europol to provide 24/7 support to Member States. The work of the important High Level Expert Group set up by the Commission in April 2016 to address legal, technical and operational aspects of different options to achieve greater interoperability of information systems needs to be accelerated. The Commission will present interim findings to the Council and to the European Parliament in the course of the next months. Work is also ongoing as regards the Commission's legislative proposal for an EU Travel and Information Authorisation System (ETIAS) to provide prior checks for visa-exempt third-country nationals travelling to the Schengen area, which will be presented by November. In addition, swift negotiations and adoption of the Commission proposal for systematic checks of EU citizens crossing the external borders by the end of 2016 and the establishment of an EU Entry-Exist System (EES) are necessary to enhance security at the external EU borders. The present report is the first of a series of monthly reports on the progress made towards an operational and effective Security Union, as requested by President Juncker in his mission letter addressed to Commissioner Julian King. The monthly reports will highlight action taken by the EU institutions and EU Agencies in the area of security and will identify where more efforts are needed. The next progress report is foreseen for November 2016. Background Security has been a constant theme since the beginning of the Juncker Commission's mandate – from President Juncker's Political Guidelinesof July 2014, to the latestState of the Union addresson September 2016. The European Commission adopted the European Agenda on Security on 28 April 2015, setting out the main actions to ensure an effective EU response to terrorism and security threats in the European Union over the period 2015-2020. Since the adoption of the Agenda, significant progress has been made in its implementation. Key areas of attention have been reinforced by Action Plans adopted in December 2015 on firearms and explosives, in February 2016 on strengthening the fight against terrorist financing, the Communication of 6 April 2016 on Stronger and Smarter Information Systems for Borders and Security, and the Communication of 20 April 2016 on Delivering on the European Agenda on Security to fight against terrorism and pave the way towards an effective and genuine Security Union. Most recently, the launch on 6 October of a European Border and Coast Guard, as announced by President Juncker in his State of the Union Speech on 9 September 2015 and only 9 months after the Commission's proposal in December, shows a clear commitment to implement the measures under the European Agenda on Migration to reinforce the management and security of the EU's external borders. The creation by President Juncker of a specific Commissioner portfolio for the Security Union in August 2016 shows the importance the Commission has attached to stepping up its response to the terrorist threat. The Commissioner will be assisted by a cross cutting Task Force drawing on the expertise of the whole Commission to drive work forward and to ensure implementation. The first Task Force meeting was held on 22 September 2016. For more information Communication on progress towards an effective and genuine Security Union Communication: Delivering on the European Agenda on Security to fight against terrorism and pave the way towards an effective and genuine Security Union European Agenda on Security Factsheet: Security Union Questions and Answers: Paving the way towards a genuine and effective Security Union Mission Letter to Sir Julian King, Commissioner for the Security Union IP/16/3367

"For the first time in decades, criminal justice practitioners, lawmakers, and the general public are rethinking sentencing laws, prison spending, and the best ways to address crime and violence. In an effort to incorporate the voices of crime survivors during this era of reform, this report from the Alliance for Safety and Justice describes findings from its National Survey of Victims’ Views and points to opportunities for further research and reform to advance polices that align with the needs and perspectives of victims. Perhaps to the surprise of some, victims overwhelmingly prefer criminal justice approaches that prioritize rehabilitation over punishment and strongly prefer investments in crime prevention and treatment to more spending on prisons and jails."

DAAD and UNHCR sign Memorandum of Understanding - first scholarships for Syrian refugees in Turkey and the Middle East larships to be awarded The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The aim is to create new prospects for Syrian refugees through access to higher education in the MENA region and Turkey. The DAAD and UNHCR agreed to pool their capacities to reach a higher impact for their HOPES project (DAAD) and the DAFI (UNHCR) scholarship program. The EU-funded HOPES project targets Syrian refugees who are eligible to study in Lebanon, Jordan, Northern Iraq, Egypt and Turkey. Scholarships will be provided in order to enable them to assume or to finish higher education. Next to the refugees, also scholarships for students from the host countries are available. 400-600 scholarships shall be awarded during the project’s lifespan until the end of 2019. Since the beginning of the DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) program in 1992, UNHCR has awarded more than 8,000 university scholarships primarily to undergraduate refugee students in the country of first asylum. In the light of the civil war in Syria, the German Foreign Ministry, who is the main donor for the DAFI program, has announced to provide additional DAFI scholarships for Syrian refugees in the region. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier: “In 2016, Germany is funding 2,500 new DAFI scholarships mostly for Syrian, but also for Afghan and African refugees. With its commitment to higher education for refugees, Germany creates perspectives for young refugees allowing them to take their future into their own hands and become more self-reliant, hence, also contributing to the well-being of their communities.” Coordination between HOPES and DAFI has intensified considerably since the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding in June. With UNHCR offering to make use of already existing structures, the DAAD was able to reach a quick first impact with the HOPES project and enable students to start or continue their studies already in the upcoming fall semester. “We are very pleased to join forces with UNHCR in order to really make a difference for young, talented people in the region. By working together, synergies are created and more people will be able to receive funding for their studies,” said DAAD President Professor Margret Wintermantel. DAAD and UNHCR have launched a joint advertisement campaign for their scholarships which has reached a considerable amount of eligible candidates. In Turkey, the largest number of applications was registered. 13.500 candidates applied for a total of 1.500 available scholarships provided by DAFI, HOPES and a local institution. 90 of the scholarships will be funded by HOPES, 750 by the DAFI program. The selection processes and award procedures in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Northern Iraq are ongoing. The decisions are taken by joint HOPES-DAFI selection committees. Background Launched in April 2016, the project HOPES is implemented by a consortium led by the DAAD. Partners are the British Council, EP-Nuffic and Campus France. HOPES follows a comprehensive approach to enable Syrian refugees and vulnerable youth to enter the higher education systems in Lebanon, Jordan, Northern Iraq, Egypt and Turkey. The DAAD is responsible for the award of scholarships and counselling. The other European partners offer language courses, funding for short projects via calls for proposals and communication and networking activities. The EU Regional Trust Fund (Madad Fund) provides the funding for the HOPES project. Since 1992 the DAFI (Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative) program allowed thousands of refugee students to pursue higher education in their country of first asylum. In 2016, more than 5000 students have received scholarships in 40 countries worldwide. The program is administrated by UNHCR directly and predominantly funded by the generous support of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

11/10/2016 This ICSR report is a groundbreaking study on European jihadists and the increasing convergence between criminal and jihadist milieus. It challenges long-held assumptions about radicalization, recruitment, and how to counter terrorism. •The presence of former criminals in terrorist groups is neither new nor unprecedented. But with Islamic State and the ongoing mobilisation of European jihadists, the phenomenon has become more pronounced, more visible, and more relevant to the ways in which jihadist groups operate. In many European countries, the majority of jihadist foreign fighters are former criminals. •The purpose of this new report is to describe the nature and dynamics of the crime-terror nexus, and understand what it means. To do so, a multi-lingual team of ICSR researchers compiled a database containing the profiles of 79 recent European jihadists with criminal pasts. •What we have found is not the merging of criminals and terrorists as organisations but of their social networks, environments, or milieus. Criminal and terrorist groups have come to recruit from the same pool of people, creating (often unintended) synergies and overlaps that have consequences for how individuals radicalise and operate. This is what we call the new crime-terror nexus. Radicalisation and Recruitment •The profiles and pathways in our database suggest that the jihadist narrative – as articulated by the Islamic State – is surprisingly well-aligned with the personal needs and desires of criminals, and that it can be used to condone as well as curtail the continued involvement in crime. •For up to ten of the individuals in our database, we found evidence for what we termed the ‘redemption narrative’: jihadism offered redemption for crime while satisfying the personal needs and desires that led them to become involved in it, making the ‘jump’ from criminality to terrorism smaller than is commonly perceived. Prisons •Fifty-seven per cent of the individuals in our database (45 out of 79 profiles) had been incarcerated prior to their radicalisation, with sentences ranging from one month to over ten years, for various offences from petty to violent crime. More significantly, at least 27 per cent of those who spent time in prison (12 out of 45 profiles) radicalised there, although the process often continued and intensified after their release. •Our database highlights different ways in which prisons matter: (1) they are places of vulnerability in which extremists can find plenty of ‘angry young men’ who are ‘ripe’ for radicalisation; (2) they bring together criminals and terrorists, and therefore create opportunities for networking and ‘skills transfers’; and (3) they often leave inmates with few opportunities to re-integrate into society. ‘Skills Transfers’ •There are many ‘skills’ that terrorists with criminal pasts may have developed. In particular: (1) individuals with a criminal past tend to have easier access to weapons; (2) they are adept at staying ‘under the radar’ and planning discreet logistics; and (3) their familiarity with violence lowers their (psychological) threshold for becoming involved in terrorist acts. Financing •Jihadists not only condone the use of ‘ordinary’ criminality to raise funds, they have argued that doing so is the ideologically correct way of waging ‘jihad’ in the ‘lands of war’. Combined with large numbers of former criminals in their ranks, this will make financing attacks through crime not only possible and legitimate but, increasingly, their first choice. •Already, up to 40 per cent of terrorist plots in Europe are at least part-financed through ‘petty crime’, especially drug-dealing, theft, robberies, the sale of counterfeit goods, loan fraud, and burglaries. Based on our database, jihadists tend to continue doing what they are familiar with, which means that terrorist financing by criminal means will become more important as the number of former criminals is increasing. Recommendations •Re-thinking radicalisation: The emergence of the new crime-terror nexus and its associated dynamics should compel researchers, analysts, and policymakers to re-think long-held ideas about how terror, crime, and radicalisation have to be understood. Being pious is no guarantee that criminal behaviour has stopped, while acting like a ‘gangster’ does not preclude involvement in terrorism. •Targeting ALL streams of financing: Countering terrorist finance needs to be broadened beyond the banking system to counter all sources of funding, including small-scale and ‘petty crime’, such as drug dealing, theft, robberies, and the trade in counterfeit goods. Not only will doing so help to counter terrorist funding, but also reduce ‘ordinary’ crimes and enable law enforcement agencies to operate a so-called ‘Al Capone approach’. •Data sharing: Just like the lines between crime and terrorism have become blurred, relevant agencies need to break down institutional silos and become more effective at sharing relevant information across departments and ‘disciplines’. Counter-terrorism, customs, intelligence services, criminal police, and even outside actors need to share information, conduct joint training, and participate in early warning systems. •New partnerships: More important than before are relationships with civil society and local authorities who know more about communities, local dynamics and relationships, than law enforcement and the intelligence agencies. Another potentially valuable tool are public-private partnerships, because businesses are affected by many of the crimes described in this report, and – in addition to wanting to be seen as good ‘citizens’ – they typically have a commercial interest in countering smuggling, fraud, or the trade in counterfeit goods.

Over the past several decades, Quebec has eveloped exceptional expertise in the prevention of a broad range of social problems such as suicide, drug addiction, and crime. The Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence (CPRLV) applies the same preventive approach in dealing with radicalization leading to violence and hate crimes and incidents in Quebec. Synergistic Competencies The CPRLV works proactively by addressing the multiple causes and conditions the contribute to the emergence of radicalization. Of fundamental importance to this process is the concerted involvement of all relevant actors. Prevention is therefore the product of all the efforts made by Quebec society as a whole—members of the general public of all ages, front-line workers, community organizations, police services, public and private institutions, etc. Types of Preventative Action Employed by the CPRLV The CPRLV works with its specialized prevention and intervention team to develop concrete strategies and approaches for reducing the risk of individuals becoming violently radicalized and for preventing negative consequences for such individuals, their friends and family, and society at large. Through the training, guides and tools it has developed, the CPRLV raises public awareness of the diverse forms of violent radicalization, of behaviours that may be signs that a person is becoming radicalized, and of compassionate and respectful ways of responding to the phenomenon best suited to the type of situation. At the same time, the CPRLV is working on creating a series of tools and initiatives for the prevention of hate crimes and incidents, and developing strategies aimed at supporting communities in building and maintaining social togetherness.

document on: •reasons for returning, •obstacles to returning, •difficulties to be overcome in Québec, •intervention / rehabilitation

November 22-23, 2016 ESMT Berlin SchlIn our digital age, democracy is at risk. Military cyber attackers infiltrate democratic processes and institutions, while totalitarian states stabilize by massive surveillance and censorship. International mass surveillance undermines civil and human rights and erodes trust in digitization. Knowledge and opinion on the Internet are increasingly fabricated and abused to manipulate societies on a mass scale. Economies are weakened by sabotage and espionage. More and more problems become visible, many of which could be solved by better innovation or stronger regulation. But political, economic and technological responses are still slow and ineffective. The international "The Digital Society Conference 2016 - Defending Democracy, Increasing innovation" wants to shed light on these issues. The two day conference will bring leading scientists, practitioners and decision-makers together to provide insights into the new, the evolved and the most challenging problems of privacy and security and to propose legal, industrial and technical solutions. ossplatz 1, 10178 Berlin

In order to combat radicalisation, repressive responses alone are not sufficient. Preventive measures must also be implemented to tackle its underlying causes and to strengthen the resilience of individuals to the risks of radicalisation. Because they are by nature close to citizens, local and regional authorities are strategically positioned to put in place such preventive actions and to mobilise all the relevant local stakeholders. This publication broaches the different areas of a local strategy for the prevention of radicalisation and provides practical insights and tools to enable local stakeholders to act, both at the political and technical levels. This text is the result of work carried out between 2014 and 2016 in the framework of the European project “Local Institutions AgaInSt Extremism (LIAISE)” led by Efus in partnership with the cities of Augsburg (Germany), Brussels (Belgium), Dusseldorf (Germany), Liege (Belgium), L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Spain), Reggio Emilia (Italy), Malmö (Sweden) and Vilvoorde (Belgium), as well as the Institute for Strategic Dialogue think tank (UK) and the Ufuq.de association (Germany).

International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation

Lucy Van Daele, a vaper activist from Belgium, talks about Science, politics and citizen activism: achieving results. 2016-10-26

NEARLY one in five 13-year-olds have been offered drugs, according to a new survey of substance abuse among Scottish schoolchildren. The proportion of 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who reported having been offered drugs increased by 5% between 2013 and 2015, according to the latest Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (Salsus) which questioned 25,304 pupils at 264 schools. A total of 19% of 13-year-olds said they had been offered drugs, as did 42% of 15-year-olds. 2016-10-26

Efus and eight European organisations are launching a call to identify existing innovative and encouraging practices at the local level throughout Europe to combat crime and misdemeanors motivated by racism, xenophobia and all other forms of intolerance. 50 practices will be selected from the responses to this call, which will be published in a manual and disseminated across Europe to promote local initiatives and encourage authorities to take more action against acts of discriminatory violence. For more details, please consult the call for practices available in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. This call is part of the framework of the Just & Safer Cities for All Project, led by Efus and co-financed by the European Commission, whose primary objective is to strengthen the knowledge of stakeholders on the measures which can be taken at the local level against discriminatory violence.

Crime, Justice and Social Media By Michael Salter Crime, Justice and Social Media argues that online abuse is not discontinuous with established patterns of inequality but rather intersects with and amplifies them. Drawing on original qualitative research, this book is essential reading for students and scholars in the fields of cyber-crime, media and crime, cultural criminology, and gender and crime.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which takes place each year on 17 October, Eurostat publishes a data visualisation tool as well as some interesting facts & figures on people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the European Union.

About CoCoRa CoCoRa is a two-year European project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, aiming to develop and test a new community-based prevention strategy against radicalisation towards violent and militant extremism among young people. All activities of the CoCoRa project actively involve young people, focusing on their empowerment and equal and active citizenship. ________________________________________ Activities foreseen • The CoCoRa Collaborative Programme: collaborative workshops/meetings with local resource persons to: introduce the project and its objectives and launch brainstorming, planning, announcement and engagement of young persons for the prevention programme. • The CoCoRa Prevention Programme: a long-term course of various activities, focusing on: equal and active citizenship in practice, antidiscrimination, democracy and citizen´s right and duties, religiousness in a secular society, empowerment and the so-called self-including citizenship. • The CoCoRa Ambassador Programme: training programme for young participants at the prevention programme to become spokesmen towards local authorities and professionals working in the field of prevention. • The CoCoRa Prevention Strategy: a total prevention package, consisting of interactive methodical handbooks, presenting all materials from the CoCoRa programmes. ________________________________________

As more and more crime moves online, computer scientists, criminologists and legal academics have joined forces in Cambridge to improve our understanding and responses to cybercrime, helping governments, businesses and ordinary users construct better defences.