Combating hate crimes and violent extremism, particularly against Roma population, and increasing the quality of police service
General Inspectorate of Romanian Police ·Romania
About this project
<p style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="color: #000000">The project addresses the main problems with hate crimes and violent extremism, particularly against Roma. The project will enhance the cooperation between law enforcement authorities and non-governmental organisations. International best practices and expertise regarding prevention and countering hate crimes will be transferred to Romania, through cooperation with the Norwegian University Police College and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. </span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="color: #000000">The project will, inter alia, include the following main activities: </span></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif"><span style="color: #000000"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">- Capacity building and transfer of knowledge through training seminars and workshops; <br> - Awareness raising and anti-victimization campaigns targeting both specialized audience and the general public;<br> - Establishment of an anti-hate crime unit within the Romanian police, </span><br> - <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Provision of identity registration to undocumented persons in the Roma population; <br> - Drafting legal procedures related to police accountability and <br> - Measures to increase access to basic human rights for the Roma population. </span></span></span></span></p>
Bilateral cooperation results
Bilateral collaboration with our Norwegian partners from the Oslo PD was essential to the project's success, resulting in several notable achievements: I. Expertise and Know-How Transfer: Direct meetings between IGPR/DIC specialists and their Norwegian counterparts facilitated the exchange of experience in investigating hate crimes, statistical data collection, and collaboration with civil society and vulnerable communities. Four workshops organized jointly with Oslo PD (three online and one in Norway) brought together 51 Romanian police officers at each event, contributing to their skill development in investigating hate crimes. Five online experience-sharing sessions with Norwegian police officers further explored the topics covered in the workshops. A study visit to Rome, alongside partners from Oslo PD, provided Romanian investigators with a comparative perspective on hate crime investigation methods. II. Project Activity Involvement: Oslo PD was actively involved in organizing and participating in various project activities (A.1.1., A.1.4., A.4., A.6.4., A.8., A.15.), bringing Norwegian expertise to the fight against hate crimes. Oslo PD and Oslo PHS actively collaborated with the Police Academy on organizing activities, contributing to their greater complementarity. Representatives from PICCJ and Oslo PD participated in training sessions (A.6.4.), facilitating the exchange of experience and best practices between Romanian and Norwegian prosecutors regarding evidence management and the prosecution of hate crimes. Oslo PD participated in an information event dedicated to young people, promoting the police profession and the importance of combating discrimination.
Project partners
- Norwegian Police University College Donor project partner· Norway
- Oslo Police District Donor project partner· Norway
- National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) of Norway Donor project partner· Norway
- Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ODHIR) Project partner· Austria