On Friday April 29th and Thursday May 5th, EURIEC organised two info days for German partners to learn more about the RIEC-LIEC organisation. In the city hall of Maastricht, delegates of the attending partners received an introduction on the role of the RIEC’s in tackling crime in The Netherlands.
The participants were welcomed by Mirjam Clermonts-Aretz (Chair of the EURIEC Steering Group Committee). Rob Hutschemaekers (Head of RIEC Limburg / EURIEC) provided a presentation on how the RIEC-LIEC is organised and what its main tasks are. Following that, the participants were invited to join several group sessions. During these group sessions the following subjects were discussed: the roles of account managers, the mayor and the Belgian ARIEC in tackling organised crime and a project on criminal youth in the region Limburg.
The info days were attended by delegates of the following German organisations: Landeskriminalamt (LKA) NRW, Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), students and professors of the Hochschule für Polizei und öffentliche Verwaltung NRW (HSPV), Bundespolizei, Universität Osnabrück, Ministerium für Heimat, Kommunales, Bau und Gleichstellung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, StädteRegion Aachen, Staatsanwaltschaft Aachen, Innenministerium NRW , Steuer Aachen, Staatsanwaltschaft Kleve, Bundespolizei and SiKoRuhr.
What are the RIEC’s?
The RIEC (Regional Information and Expertise Centre) is a network organization in the fight against organised crime. The Netherlands has ten RIECs. These RIECs support their partners in the administrative and integrated approach to organised crime. They do this by sharing information and expertise and increasing awareness. The aim is to encourage cooperation and to make government and society more resilient in order to combat mixing of criminal underground with the ‘upper world’ (undermining).