Innovations on several levels should bring “even more clout in the regions”, especially against cybercriminals, advance the fight against organized crime, especially in trafficking, drug and arms trafficking, and improve the skills of the 38,000 police officers in training and advanced training Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP).
The department head presented three “essential pillars” of the reform. On the one hand, the work of the criminal police in the regions is to be strengthened. To this end, Austria is to be divided into 30 to 40 regions. One focus is the crime scene work with the securing of evidence in the digital area, another the cyber investigations. According to Karner, the increasing threat from the virtual world requires “a kind of cyber cobra” or “a patrol of the Internet”. Prevention work in general should also be promoted.
The main aim of these reforms is to criminal service to modernize all levels, to make them more efficient and flexible, according to the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Andreas Holzer. Specifically, regional priority departments are to be set up at the existing police departments in order to “support the core,” the 34,000 employees in the inspections, “as best as possible in their work”. This number is to be increased by 4,300 additional posts. Andreas Pilsl, Provincial Police Director for Upper Austria, announced that in future all departments with more than 19 employees would set up their own criminal investigation groups.
The second project presented concerns the deployment of OC units in the state criminal investigation offices to further develop the fight against organized crime, in particular smuggling and human trafficking. Karner reported that more than 620 people smugglers had already been arrested this year. In addition, after a year of successful trial operation, “Department 8”, which acts as a hub in the fight against international trafficking crime with a focus on the western Balkan route, is now to be set up as a permanent department.
Thirdly, training and further education for the police should be reformed, not least with regard to cyber skills. In view of the increase in crime in the digital sector by almost 30 percent last year, the Cybercrime Competence Center C4 is to become a separate department. In addition, so-called Cybercrime Training Centers are to be set up in six federal states, where police officers will receive basic and further training in the field of cybercrime. The high demand for IT specialists is to be covered on the one hand by increased recruitment at universities and technical colleges and on the other hand by the possibility of special contracts for cyber experts over the next few years. “We will invest heavily in IT infrastructure and equipment, the budget of the General Directorate for Public Security has been increased significantly, by EUR 325 million to a total of EUR 3.088 billion,” said Director General for Public Security Franz Ruf.
Hardly any other organization has “carried out so many organizational reforms, because they are necessary and so comprehensive,” in just a few decades, stressed Karner. He recalled the merging of the police and gendarmerie almost 20 years ago, the merging of security directorates and state police commanders ten years ago and, more recently, the establishment of the directorate for state security and intelligence and the reform of the central office. The projects outlined today are “another milestone in the further development of criminal police work from the central office to the individual departments from Neusiedler to Lake Constance”. Reforms are being made “not for fun and frolics,” but because the conditions for the police have also changed due to the changed tactics of criminals.
Karner referred to illegal migration and trafficking mafia, cybercrime and “extremism in any form” as the areas where it is important to take particularly consistent action. The reform of the state offices for the protection of the constitution is still pending, it is to be presented and implemented in 2023.
Source: Nachrichten
