E010/2025/EXB Interagency cooperation and the importance of police laboratories in combatting crime

The aim of this Exchange‑bite is to inform law enforcement officials about key investigative practices, inter‑agency cooperation models, and laboratory techniques used across participating countries, with a focus on crime‑scene forensics, firearms management, and digital tools for weapons tracking. 

The session also introduces the organisational structures of the Greek and Serbian Police and the methods applied in combatting financial, organised, and serious crime, highlighting best practices that may be adapted to other national contexts.

By the end of this webinar, the audience will be able to:

• Identify differences in best practices applied in Türkiye and Poland, particularly in forensic and laboratory work;
• Observe similarities and differences in approaches to the preparation of criminal expert reports;
• Compare the level of technological advancement in forensic laboratories in Türkiye and Poland, including the use of the VisionX comparison microscope by the Polish Ballistics Unit;
• Assess the importance of digital and physical archiving of bullet fragments by the Polish Ballistics Investigation Unit in the fight against crime;
• Compare similarities and differences in methods used to combat smuggling offences in Türkiye and Poland;
• Become familiar with artificial‑intelligence‑based software techniques used by the Turkish Police to assess the authenticity of images, signatures, and voice recordings;
• Understand the structure and functioning of firearms management systems in Portugal and Belgium;
• Compare Belgian and Portuguese approaches to arms regulation and traceability;
• Distinguish between the Belgian Central Weapons Registry (RCA) and the Portuguese SIGAE system (Sistema de Informação e Gestão de Armas e Explosivos);
• Evaluate the benefits of centralised firearms databases, such as SIGAE;
• Improve their knowledge of the role and functioning of the National Firearms Focal Point;
• Gain an understanding of the organisation and operational structure of the Hellenic Police;
• Identify emerging security risks in Greece;
• Understand the working methods and procedures applied by police officers in Greek police stations, with reference to differences observed in Serbia;
• Become familiar with the methods and tools used by the Financial Crimes Department of the Hellenic Police in combatting financial crime, in comparison with practices applied in Serbia;
• Gain an understanding of the organisational structure of the Serbian Police;
• Identify emerging security risks in Serbia;
• Understand the working methods of police officers in Serbia and how they differ from those applied in Greece;
• Understand key differences in legislation between Greece and Serbia;
• Learn about the methods and tools used by Serbian police officers and how they differ from those applied in Greece;
• Become informed about existing forms of police cooperation between Greece and Serbia.

EMPACT training activity

Combatting new forms of organised crime requires more cooperation between police and gendarmes, customs officers, border guards, judges, and prosecutors. EU institutions, agencies and Member States work together to tackle organised and serious international crime through a permanent and key instrument: the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

CEPOL plays a crucial role in the EMPACT mechanism through the provision of specialised training and the identification of training needs within each common security threat. Every year, CEPOL provides a comprehensive training package for each common EU crime priority consisting of onsite, online and exchange training activities.

Check more of CEPOL's EMPACT training activities here.