In Italy, the CEPOL National Unit (CNU) is part of the staff depending from the Director of the Scuola di Perfezionamento per le Forze di Polizia (Interagency Law Enforcement Academy of Advanced Studies). The Director of the Academy is the Italian representative to the CEPOL Management Board, which is the most important decision-making body of the Agency, as well as a voting member at that Board. He gives voice to the different training needs of Italian Police Forces.
La CNU, which is an interagency body, acts as a point of connection, coordination and integration among the potentialities emerging from the services of the various National Police Forces in the field of training. In particular:
- it represents Italy in management and organizational meetings at CEPOL;
- it ensures cooperation among CEPOL and National Police Forces’ Agencies, their Law Enforcement Training Institutes, the Universities and the National Research Centers through partnership agreements in force;
- it organizes CEPOL training activities at domestic level in cooperation with the Agency, with European and international Organizations as well as with other Member States (courses, conferences, seminars, study visits meetings);
- it encourages the most widespread participation of Police Forces’ personnel, both trainers and trainees, in the residential or online training activities organized by the Agency;
- it organizes the participation of Police Forces’ personnel in the European exchange program with Member States and EU partner Countries, as well as in the online training platform LEEd (Law Enforcement Education), link: https://leed.cepol.europa.eu/ ;
- it promotes the relevant research and study activities as well as any proposal reflecting the evolution of the Agency itself as regards the general organization, the contents of the training and the teaching methods;
- it disseminates all over the national territory the innovative results of the overall CEPOL activities, in their European dimension;
- it supports the communication activities both within the Agency and at national level, even promoting the initiatives proposed;
- it participates in the network activities of the Academies partner of FRONTEX, of the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC) and of other international projects.
The Regulation (UE) 2015/2219 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015, which reformed CEPOL, introduced some important innovations, as:
- the inclusion of further target groups for CEPOL training activities, which has allowed the Police Forces’ personnel of all levels and ranks (including all the Law Enforcement Authorities) to participate to said training activities;
- the inclusion of further partners entitled to organize training activities in Italy, on behalf of the Agency, within all the Law Enforcement Training Institutes, the Universities and the National Research Centers which have signed the four-year partnership agreements with CEPOL;
- the possibility to develop and provide training activities for law enforcement officials from third Countries, in particular the candidate Countries for accession to the European Union as well as the Countries to which the European Neighbourhood Policy applies;
- the possibility to manage the funds allocated to the Union External Assistance to assist third countries in building their skills in the relevant policing areas, in line with the established priorities of the Union;
- the possibility to carry out communication activities on its own initiative in the fields within its mandate.
ACTIVITIES ORGANIZED BY THE CEPOL NATIONAL UNIT IN 2021 AND 2022
• Corso CEPOL 44-2021, HATE CRIME, Roma 15-19/11/2021;
• Corso CEPOL 56-2021, INTEROPERABILITY, Roma18-22/10/2021;
• Visita studio del progetto CEPOL TOPCOP, CRIMINAL FINANCES, MONEY LAUNDERING AND FACILITATE ASSET RECOVERY, Roma 14-16/12/2021;
• Corso CEPOL 02/2022, COUNTERING SERIOUS ORGANISED CRIME AND MAFIA-STYLE GROUPS – INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUES, Roma 13-17/06/2022;
• Corso CEPOL 93/2022, UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS, Roma 15-18/11/2022;