POLIIICE

Synergies

 NOTIONES Project

Novel technologies have presented practitioners with new opportunities to improve the intelligence process, but have also been exploited by actors like terrorists, creating new challenges and threats. Consequently, the timely identification of emerging technologies and analysis of their potential impact, not only on the intelligence community but also on terrorist or criminal organisations, is crucial.

However, time constraints can prevent intelligence practitioners from being updated on the most recent technologies. This can for instance delay efforts to adapt these technologies to the needs of the intelligence community, while also hindering the early definition of counter measures to respond to related changes in the threat landscape. 

In order to address this challenge, NOTIONES, which is deriving its name from a Latin lemma referring to “being informed”, will establish a network to connect researchers and industries with the intelligence community. This network will facilitate exchange on new and emerging technologies but also equip solution providers with insights on the corresponding needs and requirements of practitioners. The so gained findings will be disseminated in periodic reports containing technologic roadmaps, priorities and recommendations for future research projects and development activities.

 

HEROES project

The HEROES project will address prevention through a mixed approach of technology and social action, developing free open-source applications that will help reduce the risk of individuals becoming victims of trafficking and enhance the safety with which children communicate through social networks. Additionally, technological tools will be developed to meet the crucial needs of law enforcement, such as automatic information gathering, data analysis, classification, and detection of patterns containing evidence of these crimes. HEROES will apply artificial intelligence techniques to implement these tools.

 

ALUNA Project

ALUNA project proposes an innovative, ambitious, interdisciplinary, international child-protection-centered approach to fight against CSA/CSE crimes. ALUNA focuses on the three main components (Prevention, Investigation, and Victim Assistance) to establish a coordinated contribution with law enforcement agencies (LEAs) by developing an appropriate approach that is capable of addressing specific needs and providing protection to childhood. The ALUNA project’s main objective is to use technology to improve the way in which help and support can be provided to victims of CSA/CSE. Moreover, the ALUNA project will establish new innovative strategies that in the short, medium, and long term will improve the way in which LEAs and civil society organisations (CSOs) carry out criminal investigations, assist rescued victims, and prevent the occurrence of these crimes.

 

VANGUARD Project

VANGUARD aims to strengthen the fight against trafficking in human beings (THB) through the provision of improved intelligence picture, delivery of advanced and trustworthy suite of tools, and realisation of innovative training activities. Through its interdisciplinary consortium, VANGUARD will foster collaboration, provide policy recommendations, and raise awareness for sustainable impact against the exploitation of human beings.

 

EITHOS Project

EITHOS is developing a novel Identity Theft Observatory System, empowering European citizens, Law Enforcements Agencies (LEAs), and policy makers to further contribute to the prevention, detection, and investigation of online identity theft (OIDT) related crime. Through targeted awareness campaigns and innovative engagement activities, EITHOS aims to raise public awareness about Online Identity Theft and associated risks and societal impact.

 

LAW-GAME Project

LAW-GAME project is an innovative initiative aimed at improving law enforcement professional training using gamification technologies. LAW-GAME’s primary goal is to bridge the theoretical knowledge and practical application gap by immersing police officers in a safe and controlled virtual environment. LAW-GAME is made up of four distinct “mini games”, each of which is designed to train and evaluate police officers in critical areas of law enforcement. Within an immersive virtual environment, these modules provide comprehensive training on forensic examination, evidence collection, crime scene analysis, communication, persuasion, negotiation, counterterrorism strategies, intelligence gathering, car accident scene investigation, evidence handling, and interviewing techniques. The learning methodology developed by the LAW-GAME consortium will be extensively validated by European end-users, in Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Moldavia and Estonia, but also in an “all user-groups” pilot in a shared VR environment.

 

LAGO Project

LAGO (Lessen Data Access and Governance Obstacles) aims to establish a trusted European Research Data Ecosystem to enhance the fight against crime and terrorism. By addressing the critical lack of domain-specific, high-quality datasets, LAGO will facilitate the co-creation, deposit, and secure sharing of FCT (Fight against Crime and Terrorism)-related data. The project aims to create a multi-actor reference architecture that enables an open, transparent, and secure infrastructure for the effective access and utilization of such data.

 

ALIGNER Project

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate, and AI is at the forefront of this change. While providing numerous benefits, many have raised concerns over the impact AI has or will have on matters such as security. The EU-funded ALIGNER project aims to unite European actors who have concerns about AI, law enforcement and policing to jointly identify and discuss how to enhance Europe’s security whereby AI strengthens law enforcement agencies while providing benefits to the public. The project’s work will help pave the way for an AI research roadmap.

 

UNCOVER Project

The main objective of #UNCOVER is to develop innovative technologies for detecting hidden information (steganalysis) and to increase the technological autonomy of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in the field of digital media steganalysis. With its consortium of 22 partners, which includes LEAs, forensic institutes, leading researchers and software developers as well as technology companies, UNCOVER aims to improve current standards of steganalysis solutions regarding the performance, usability, operational needs, privacy protection, and chain-of-custody considerations

 

CESAGRAM Project

CESAGRAM will work towards a Comprehensive European Strategy against Grooming and Missing children by conducting a range of separate yet interconnected activities: Research, Training and Awareness Raising, the creation of an AI Tool, and Advocacy. The project will be delivered through a partnership consisting of 11 expert organisations and is funded by the European Commission.

 

ODYSSEUS Project

The ODYSSEUS research project addresses the ever-present and ever-changing problem of the construction of improvised explosive devices, aiming at the early detection of explosive precursors. These substances are components that, after chemical and physical treatment, can yield explosives that will be used in terrorist attacks. The ODYSSEUS program aims to offer a comprehensive response proposal by combining artificial intelligence computational tools and previous detection tools in the field, harmoniously working together on a digital platform.

 

TRACY Project

Tracy Project aims to gain a deeper understanding of the operational procedures involved in resolving crimes, particularly focusing on data-driven evidence processing. The project objectives includes investigating the methods, tools, and type of evidence data utilized.

 

 CYBERSPACE Project LEAs Cluster

POLIIICE project was invited to participate into CYBERSPACE Project LEAs Cluster and to join forces along with several other EU Research Projects such as: ALIGNER, Ceasefire Project, DYNAMO Horizon Europe project 101069601, EU-HYBNET, KINAITICS Horizon Europe Project, ODYSSEUS Project, POLIIICE, UNCOVER Project and more. The LEA projects cluster – led by the CYBERSPACE Project – is a synergy of EU-funded projects with common stakeholders and similar objectives in supporting law enforcement against organised crime and terrorism.

The cluster aims to:

➡ Share knowledge in order to support law enforcement against money-laundering, cybercrime, organised crime and terrorism, for example, by webinars for the partners in the cluster.

➡ Leverage our dissemination activities by mentioning the projects in the cluster on our websites, inviting articles from the cluster projects in our newsletter.

➡ Ensure the coherence and complementarity of our recommendations to the EC, LEAs and other stakeholders, as far as possible.

➡ Explore a degree of interoperability or compatibility between our technical platforms, modules and/or services.

➡ Explore synergies, research opportunities and possible joint exploitation activities.

CYBERSPACE Project

In 2020, cyberattacks cost the global economy €5.5 trillion. They also eroded public trust in institutions and put stress on millions of lives. Despite these threats, most law enforcement agencies and European countries lack the proper systems to track and respond to cybercrime in a timely manner. The project aims to provide policymakers, law enforcement agencies and the private sector with a more comprehensive understanding of cyberattacks and cybercrime in the EU. Insights will be used to develop investigative tools, improve information sharing, and better detection, response and prevention of cybercrime.

CYBERSPACE Project aims at:

* Improving public awareness and stimulating stakeholders to report cyberattacks to LEAs and CERTs

* Developing and enhancing investigative and forensic tools to strengthen the capacity of LEAs to investigate cybercrime and cyberattacks

* Providing LEAs, policymakers and the private sector with a better picture of the extent of cybercrime and cyberattacks in the EU

* Fostering cross-border collaboration between LEAs to improve the efficiency of permanent contact points for cybercrime

* Increasing cooperation between European governments to deliver harmonised policy responses to cybercrime

TENACITy

TENACITy aims to enhance travel intelligence for fighting crime and terrorism in the European Union. Its vision was born as a Travel Intelligence Governance Framework that will incorporate a holistic approach to crime prevention, strengthening the intelligence, the analytic capacity and the decision-making of the security authorities. More specifically, this vision in fighting serious crimes and reinforcing the position and the cooperation of authorities will be achieved through modern and effective tools for exploitation of travel intelligence data, and through training and sensitization of law enforcement personnel.

CYCLOPES

The CYCLOPES project builds and maintains an innovation-driven network of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) combating cybercrime. We identify solutions and research activities that help tackle the complexity of cybercrime — whilst eliciting priorities for standardisation and recommendations for innovation implementation and increased uptake.

CYCLOPES increases impact by creating successful synergies with (LEAs), Industry and Academia. This is achieved through interactive Joint Live Exercises and stimulating dialogue on pressing security matters and crime concerns in relevant workshops, webinars and events.

VIGILANT

VIGILANT Project is an interdisciplinary effort of 17 leading European partners from academia, industry, government research centres, and four Police Authorities aiming to equip European Police Authorities with advanced technologies, technical capabilities and institutional knowledge to detect and analyse disinformation campaigns and other types of harmful content leading to criminal activities. Its main functions are:

– A modular platform: An end-to-end solution of state-of-the-art detection, investigation, forensic and analysis tools contained in a single platform. Its toolbox will be packed with over thirty individual tools enabling police officers to detect disinformation and other harmful content and to analyse text, image/video, and networks.
– Capacity-building: Extensive training to equip police authorities with knowledge about disinformation campaigns and the appropriate actions for dealing with them.
– Network: Support in creation of a specialist European network for police officers tasked with combatting disinformation to share their knowledge and experiences.