Categoria: english

Body-worn cameras to reduce violence against ambulance staff in England

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Violence against ambulance personnel is currently a major problem. The vast majority of ambulance personnel report that they have experienced threats of violence, which affects the well-being of workers, who already perform important, stressful and challenging jobs. Until 2020, incidents involving the use of violence were increasing annually, resulting in additional costs for the ambulance service.

The NHS England (the UK’s national health service), the ambulance service and trade unions agreed on the need for action and implemented various initiatives to reduce the number of employees who experience violence as part of the job. These initiatives included the introduction of body-worn cameras.

One of the problems was that although cameras had been gradually introduced around the world to reduce violence – including in police services or public transport – and there was evidence of their effectiveness, there was limited evidence on how best to make them work in ambulances. Therefore, it was decided to conduct a research study in parallel to the introduction of the cameras to assess their impact.

RAND Europe was in charge of this evaluation. Over a three-year period, 2021 to 2024, data were collected and analysed in close collaboration with ambulance workers and managers. On the basis of all this information, a full report was written.

To determine whether body-worn cameras reduce violence against staff, we examine the broader conditions under which they are most likely to be successful and provide recommendations for improving these conditions. Most of all, because body-worn cameras are only a small part of a larger system of policies and practices aimed at reducing violence and aggression.

The application of body-worn cameras in the ambulance sector was transferred to ambulance trusts on the basis that local trusts were best placed to identify local barriers and opportunities and communicate effectively with local staff.

In the research, they concluded that ambulance personnel have mixed opinions about body-worn cameras, basically because they alone are not a panacea for reducing stress in risky situations, but with more positive than negative opinions. Respondents to the study highlighted the need for broader strategies, such as effective communication.

The role of institutional support emerged as a crucial factor in determining the impact of the cameras on staff well-being and their perception of safety. This aligns with the existing literature, which highlights that supportive environments can enhance the benefits of body-worn cameras. In addition, a strong positive correlation was found between a favourable work culture and positive views of body-worn cameras, suggesting that organisational climate plays an important role in shaping perceptions.

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Eliminating violence against women: addressing a global crisis

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Last 25 November marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, allowing people to see how EU-funded research is leading the way in developing new tools to prevent and detect domestic violence.

Globally, one in three women will suffer physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, according to the World Health Organization. Gender-based violence against women occurs in many forms, such as intimate partner violence, human trafficking or female genital mutilation.

Despite its prevalence, violence against women remains a very underreported problem. The 2024 survey of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union revealed that the home is not always safe for many women: 1 in 5 women have suffered physical or sexual violence committed by their partner, a relative or another member of their household. The statistics are alarming, and it is crucial to address this problem in a comprehensive and multi-faceted way.

The European Union, through its research funding instrument Horizon Europe, aims to revolutionise the way domestic violence is reported, support victims to seek help and collect evidence, and raise awareness of the problem. By leveraging state-of-the-art technologies and innovative approaches, the EU aims to empower first responders, such as police officers and health professionals, to better support victims of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is often surrounded by stigma and cultural context plays an important role in determining how victims report their experiences. The report of Eurostat from 2022 highlights the different approaches to response in EU countries, with some police forces prioritising domestic violence cases, while others require victims to visit the police station in person, often with limited assistance.

The project Horizon 2020 IMPRODOVA investigated procedures for responding to cases of domestic violence, emphasising the need for specialized training for professionals. The findings of the project were disseminated to law students, police officers and teachers, equipping them with the necessary tools to support victims and report crimes.

Based on the success of IMPRODOVA, the project Horizon Europe IMPROVE aims to empower victims of domestic violence by providing them with information about their rights and how to exercise them. The project focuses on marginalised communities and aims to accelerate political outcomes.

By leveraging AI technology, IMPROVE will develop tools to report, detect and bring justice to victims of domestic violence. A conversational AI chatbot will offer advice, risk assessment and guidance to victims, continuously improving thanks to data input from survivors.

Innovative Solutions to Eliminate Domestic Abuse (ISEDA), funded by Horizon Europe, aims to combine cutting-edge technologies and practices from the social sciences, humanities and experience in the field. ISEDA will develop training programmes for police officers, support victims in reporting domestic violence, and provide evidence and records as judicial evidence. Awareness-raising campaigns and perpetrator programmes will also be launched to improve public understanding and reduce recidivism rates.

Eliminating violence against women requires a collective effort from governments, organisations and individuals. By supporting projects such as IMPRODOVA, IMPROVE and ISEDA, we can work to create a safer and more supportive environment for victims of domestic violence.

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Deaths due to “subway surfing” in U.S. cities

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One spring afternoon, two boys celebrating the last day of sixth grade left their New York neighbourhood in search of an adventure. They arrived at a subway train that was stopping at the Church Avenue station in Brooklyn. The boys, Donald and William, climbed onto the roof of one of the cars and were heading north, with the warm air in their faces.

But their escapade was brief. Near the next station, they were caught off guard by an overpass and were thrown onto the tracks. The impact fractured the skulls of the two boys and Donald died that same day. He was 11 years old. William, 12, was taken to Kings County Hospital, unconscious. The year was 1938, but it could have been any year to date.

Andrew Keh and Ana Ley have researched and published a report in The New York Times on the steady drip of deaths in U.S. cities due to what is referred to as “subway surfing”.

Recent news reports often trace the reckless act of climbing on top of a train car, for example in New York City, and blame sensationalist videos and social media, takenby bystanders and the surfers themselves, for rising in false popularity.

In recent years, for reasons that bother public officials, subway surfing has grown and become increasingly deadly. Six people have died trying it this year. Five died in 2023, after the other five who died between 2018 and 2022. The noise of the senseless tragedy has made city officials and concerned observers wonder if anything can be done to remedy it.

The anguish is not new. In 1996, after the death of a 14-year-old boy, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the then mayor of New York made a sad assessment: “There is no way to protect a child who decides to surf on top of a subway car”.

The MTA, the Metropolitan Transport Authority, does not specifically count subway surfing incidents. It reported that 2,556 people had rode outside of train cars this year through September, but the vast majority of these cases, officials said, occurred between cars, not on top. In 2019, by comparison, there were 490.

The city is using drones to try to catch subway surfers in the act. The programme identified 114 offenders the first year, the youngest of whom, according to current New York Mayor Eric Adams, was 9 years old.

Time will tell if the programme achieves lasting results or falls frustratingly short, like many other city initiatives.

In recent years, officials have introduced a public information campaign called “Ride inside, stay alive” in the subways and schools, and have positioned more police officers around hot-spot stations. Public transport leaders have also tried to persuade social media companies to remove thousands of videos of people surfing the subway, although many are still easy to find.

As the problem has persisted, discussions about deterrence have led to a sense of despair. Leroy Comrie, a state senator whose district includes a section of Queens, wondered aloud at a budget hearing last year if the city could “grease the tops of trains” to keep people from getting on.

New York must deal with some hard truths. Physical alterations to the cars, such as open gangway cars and platform barriers, could deter potential offenders. But the city’s subway system is old and immense, with 472 stations and 665 miles of track, making wholesale structural solutions onerous and unlikely.

Officials have found that the rebellious spirit can be difficult to curb. Some teenagers have adapted to the new surveillance and, for example, changed their clothes to create confusion when drones detect them.

Thus, the prominence of subway surfing tends to be calculated in the most macabre way: loss of life. This year, the ages of the deceased were 11, 13, 13, 13, 14 and 15. They died climbing to the top of trains A, F, G, M, 6 and 7. Their accidents occurred in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.

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Council steps up fight against terrorism and violent extremism

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The European Council has adopted conclusions aimed at stepping up efforts to tackle terrorism and violent extremism. Together with the Council’s conclusions, they demonstrate the European Union’s determination to cooperate with partner countries and to protect EU citizens.

The conclusions highlight how the terrorist and violent extremist threat has become increasingly diverse and fragmented. The Council underlines the deteriorating security situation in Africa and how the current crisis in the Middle East is fuelling radicalisation around the world. The Council also confirmed the EU’s unwavering commitment to combating terrorism in Iraq and Syria.

Faced with this evolving threat, the Council stresses that strengthening external-internal connections is key. Terrorism and violent extremism must be addressed through a coherent approach that integrates the EU’s common foreign and security policy and actions into the field of justice and home affairs.

The Council also reaffirms that the only sustainable response to terrorism and violent extremism is one based on democracy, the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and gender sensitivity.

The Council’s conclusions underline the need to further invest in counter-terrorism cooperation between the EU and third countries through dialogues and capacity building projects. The conclusions further underline the need to exploit the full potential of the EU’s network of security and counter-terrorism experts, in particular to support EU counter-terrorism policy development and action.

To further enhance the effectiveness and coordination of EU efforts against terrorism, the Council calls for Team Europe initiatives that bring together the expertise and resources of the Union and Member States.

• Counter-terrorism: the Council adopts conclusions on future priorities for the fight against terrorism (12 December 2024)

• The EU response to terrorism (background information)

• Terrorism: the Council adopts conclusions aimed at promoting further action to protect Europeans (press release, 9 June 2022)

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The use of nitazenes may aggravate the fentanyl crisis

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Alarm has been sounded in the United States: the use of nitazenes, a class of synthetic opiates, is increasing.[1] This situation should lead to rethinking treatment and response policies for this type of drug. The drug can be found in powder, pills or liquid form and can be mixed with other drugs such as heroin, fentanyl or benzodiazepines.

The response to fentanyl use had already raised problems because the doses of naloxone needed to correct fentanyl overdoses must be much higher than in the case of heroin. Now, nitazenes pose an even greater challenge, because they are more potent opiates than fentanyl. The use of this new drug has already led to several overdose deaths in the United States. The most potent class of nitazenes is forty times stronger than fentanyl and thousands of times stronger than morphine. The danger of this new opioid has meant that its therapeutic use has not been admitted in any case, unlike fentanyl, which has been admitted for clinical use.

There is an unconscious use of nitazenes, as people are unaware that it is present in other drugs they take. There are no tests that detect nitazene levels as there are for fentanyl. Like the latter opioid, nitazenes weaken people who take them. Thus, we can find people who use heroin and have a stable job, meanwhile this situation is much more difficult to find in the case of fentanyl and nitazenes.

Currently, instruments to detect nitazenes are inadequate or non-existent, especially in the United States, where analysis of wastewater is not carried out, as is done in the countries of the European Union. Detection in the blood of people who ingest it is difficult because it disappears very quickly, so detection in wastewater is extremely necessary.

China seems to be the main source of nitazene precursors, which are shipped to Mexico and then illegally entered into the United States.

[1] Vid. ‘Even worse than fentanyls’: nitazenes in the USA – The Lancet

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Season’s greetings and Happy New Year

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Thank you everyone for your cooperation. We return on January 13th. Happy Holidays!

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International operation against telephone phishing gang in Europe

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Europol has supported the Belgian and Dutch authorities in an international operation against a telephone phishing gang that has led to the arrest of 8 suspects. On the police action day, law enforcement also carried out 17 searches at various locations in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Although the majority of the criminal activities took place in Belgium, the main perpetrators operated mainly from the Netherlands. In addition to conducting large-scale phishing campaigns and attempting to access financial data over the phone or online, the suspects also posed as police or bank staff and approached retired victims at their home.

After carrying out their criminal activities, the suspects spent all the victims’ money buying luxury watches and jewellery, and partying in designer clothes at expensive clubs. Authorities believe that the victims are located in at least 10 European countries and that the economic damage amounts to several million euros.

Belgian authorities conducted their first investigations in 2022 with the support of Europol and Eurojust. Since the main suspects were Dutch nationals, Dutch authorities opened their own investigation in 2023. A few months later, an operational task force was created to investigate the high-value targets that participated in the above-mentioned criminal activities and dismantle the gang.

During the course of the investigation, Europol brought all partners together to enable effective coordination and facilitated the exchange of information between Member States. Europol experts also provided national authorities with analytical and financial support.

Regarding this case, the Belgian and Dutch authorities have issued specific warnings to citizens.

• Do not trust correspondence purportedly from banks stating that accounts need urgent updating.

• Do not trust messages stating that phone accounts have been locked and need to be updated.

• Be careful when buying goods through second-hand sites when sellers ask for a down payment of EUR 0.001.

• Make sure that URL links begin with “https://”.

What can you do if you click on something?

• Use antivirus software on all your electronic devices.

• Make sure your security software and operating system are up to date.

• Set up unique passwords for all your online accounts.

• Think twice before clicking on any links and attachments, as criminals may be trying to phish you. When in doubt, do not click on links, open attachments or respond and certainly do not provide any financial information.

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Council adopts new rules to strengthen EU cybersecurity capabilities

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To strengthen EU solidarity and capabilities to detect, prepare for and respond to cybersecurity threats and incidents, the Council has adopted two new regulations that are part of the so-called cybersecurity legislative package, namely the Cyber Solidarity Act and the amendment to the Cybersecurity Act (CSA).

The new regulation sets out the EU’s capabilities to make Europe more resilient to cyber threats, while strengthening cooperation mechanisms. Among other things, it establishes a cybersecurity alert system, a pan-European infrastructure made up of national and cross-border cyber hubs across the EU.

These hubs are entities in charge of sharing information and detecting and acting on cyber threats. Cyber hubs will use state-of-the-art technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics, to detect and share timely alerts on cross-border cyber threats and incidents. They will strengthen the existing European framework and, in turn, the relevant authorities and entities will be able to provide a more efficient and effective response to major incidents.

The new regulation also provides for the creation of a cybersecurity emergency mechanism to increase preparedness and improve incident response capabilities in the EU. Support will be given to:

  • Preparedness actions, such as testing entities in highly critical sectors (healthcare, transport, energy, etc.) to detect potential vulnerabilities based on common risk scenarios and methodologies.
  • A new EU cybersecurity reserve consisting of private sector incident response services ready to intervene at the request of a Member State or EU institutions, bodies and agencies, as well as third-country partners in the event of a major or large-scale cybersecurity incident.
  • Technical mutual assistance.

Lastly, the new law sets up an evaluation and review mechanism to assess, among others, the effectiveness of actions under the cyber emergency mechanism and the use of the cybersecurity reserve, as well as the contribution of these regulations in strengthening the competitive position of companies, industry and services.

This specific amendment aims to improve the EU’s cyber resilience by enabling the future adoption of European certification schemes for so-called ‘managed security services’. The new regulation recognises the growing importance of managed security services in preventing, detecting, responding to and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. These services may consist, for example, of incident management, penetration testing, security audits and consulting related to technical support.

Pending the results of the CSA assessment, this specific amendment will make it possible to establish European certification schemes for these managed security services. It will help to increase their quality and comparability, promote the emergence of trusted cybersecurity service providers and avoid fragmentation of the internal market, as some Member States have already initiated the adoption of national certification schemes for managed security services.

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11 arrested in a new operation against wholesale cocaine traffickers

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A long-running cross-border investigation has enabled the interception of a large-scale criminal drug trafficking network transporting cocaine from South America to the European Union. The operation covered countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

The cocaine traffickers under investigation used different sea routes and modus operandi. The criminal network is also connected to a seizure of more than half a tonne of cocaine, with a street value of 50 million euros, in the port of Ploče in southern Croatia towards the end of March 2021. The drug was hidden in a modified cargo container floor. This seizure is one more indication that international drug trafficking organisations are increasingly targeting smaller EU ports.

On the action day – 26 November 2024 – police authorities arrested 11 suspects (2 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1 in Croatia and 8 in Serbia). One of them is a high-value target. During the house searches, the police seized weapons and a large amount of ammunition, as well as several high-end vehicles, watches and more than one million euros in cash. Four other people investigated for belonging to this network are already imprisoned. International arrest warrants have been issued for three other people.

The criminal network allegedly bribes several customs agents to avoid police and customs controls during the logistical phase of export. An allegedly corrupt customs agent was detained during the operation. The other arrests were members of the criminal network who had different roles in the organisation. Some ran some criminal cells, while others either financed activities or coordinated and organised logistics.

One of the suspects, a high-value target detained in Serbia, was already wanted by an EU member state. He was involved in the theft of one million euros as part of the notorious Pink Panther group. Both the robbery and his escape from prison after his conviction date back to the early 2000s.

This investigation is a continuation of an earlier operation against a criminal network connected to this one. These cross-border operations are the result of the evolution of intelligence after the withdrawal in March 2021 of the Sky ECC encrypted communications platform.

In cooperation with France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and with the support of Europol’s Drugs Unit, Serbia was able to identify key targets on its territory and map their criminal activities worldwide. This criminal organisation is believed to be linked to a large-scale criminal network that imports shipments of several tonnes of cocaine from Colombia through Brazil and Ecuador.

The recent withdrawal of three encrypted communication tools used by criminals (EncroChat, Sky ECC and Anom), revealed the prevalence of Balkan criminals in the global cocaine trade and organised crime-related activities.

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Almost one femicide a day in Germany in 2023

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The interior and women’s ministers, together with the vice-president of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (BKA), have just presented the balance sheet of crimes against women for the year 2023[1].

The most relevant data in this report are:

  • 938 girls and women victims of homicide (attempted and completed crime included), a figure that implies 32.4% of all victims of crimes against life. 80.6% of these victims were in the context of partner relationships. A total of 360 girls and women lost their lives due to completed homicides, that is, almost one femicide a day.
  • 52,330 girls and women were victims of crimes against sexual freedom (up 6.2% compared to the previous year). More than half were minors.
  • 17,193 women were victims of digital violence, such as cyberbullying or other crimes that, for example, are committed on social networks. The increase in this area is of 25% compared to the previous year.
  • 70.5% of victims of domestic violence were girls and women, with a total of 180,715 victims (171,076 in 2022), many more in the context of partner relationships (79.2% of the total) than by intra-family violence (54% of the total).
  • 591 girls and women were victims of human trafficking crimes for the purpose of sexual exploitation, an increase of 6.9% compared to 2022. 31.5% of these victims were under the age of 21.
  • Crimes against women within the group of politically motivated crimes (hate crimes against women) grew by 56.3%, with 322 crimes compared to 206 in 2022.
  • The vast majority of victims and perpetrators of these crimes were of German nationality. Only in the case of human trafficking crimes do we find a majority of victims and perpetrators of nationalities other than German.

The report speaks of various causes of this increase in violence against women. One of the reasons given is that the growing emancipation of women can threaten the social and professional position of many men. The reaction against that perceived threat may be violence. In this context, it is necessary to take into account the hate messages that are broadcast on the Internet and that have a notable diffusion. The presence on the network of these anti-feminist messages can make those who are against women’s equality think they are a majority and radicalise their response against women. This reality suggests that campaigns to prevent and combat violence against women must go far beyond police actions (which are necessary) and be able to influence public opinion effectively, so that the process of social and professional equalisation of women is assumed as positive and necessary.

In the purely police sphere, the report believes that it is necessary to intensify the fight against online feminophobia, to improve the results of the fight against the sexual exploitation of many women and to continue to collaborate in the identification of victims and perpetrators of femicide at international level.

[1] Vid. BKA – Meldungen – Bundeslagebild – Geschlechtsspezifisch gegen Frauen gerichtete Straftaten 2023

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