EU-netwerk zoekt naar manieren om autodiefstal in Europa tegen te gaan (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Litouws voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2013 i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 20 november 2013.

On 20 - 21 November a meeting of the Network of European Union (EU) Contact Points for Tackling Cross-Border Vehicle Crime (hereinafter CARPOL) is taking place in Vilnius.

CARPOL, established in 2004, is seeking to solve the aspects of international vehicle thefts through cooperation of law enforcement institutions and vehicle registration institutions.

Fight against these crimes is important for owners of vehicles, officers, insurers and other persons due to the fact that these crimes are often accompanied not only by serious violence of different nature, but also by illegal activity such as trafficking in drugs or firearms. For these reasons, the issues related to enhancing CARPOL cooperation with European police office (Europol), as well as promoting cooperation between private and public sector is going to be discussed in the course of the meeting. Experts from different countries will present their experience of participating in joint police operations and other activities related to the detection of stolen vehicles and vehicle thefts.

The international police operation LITCAR, organized by the Lithuanian police, will also be presented at the meeting. It took place not only in Lithuania, but also in 25 different EU Member States. Representatives of the police will discuss specific vehicle identification cases. Representatives of the Prosecution Service of the Republic of Lithuania will present the Lithuanian experience on applying the Council Framework Decision on the execution in the European Union of orders freezing property or evidence, in the process of retrieving stolen vehicles.

Experts from the majority of the EU Member States and Europol will participate in this meeting. Lithuania will be represented by the Lithuanian police, Customs Criminal Service, representatives of State Border Guard Service and the company “Regitra”, which is registering vehicles and drivers. The meeting will be chaired by Tomas Antulis - the Head of Europol Lithuanian National Unit of International Relations Board of Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau.