The CEPOL course “ Crime Control and Road Safety” was held at the School of the National Republican Guard, in Lisbon, Portugal, on 26-29 October 2010. Organised by the National Republican Guard of Portugal and supported by the French National Gendarmerie, this event attracted 38 delegates - proving to be a very popular topic.
Crime on public roads has been an emerging phenomenon in Europe with social, economic and political consequences, associated to the loss of lives every year on European roads. These crimes include, among others, driving without a license, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, dangerous driving, tachograph fraud and manipulation, transportation of dangerous goods, all of which are dangerous and can cause road incidents. Due to their classification as public security problems they need specialised police intervention.
With this in mind, and with the overall objective of updating knowledge on road crimes and traffic safety as an interdisciplinary field, the course had three main goals:
- The first goal was related to diagnosing the problem of traffic accidents and road crimes in the Member States represented at the course;
- The second was related to research of existing scientific and technical knowledge about the phenomenon;
- The third was related to established strategic, operational and coordination measures, that contribute to preventing and reducing the phenomenon’s consequences, from a policing point of view.
