At a conference on the role of the police in a democratic society attended by high-level representatives of European Ministers of the Interior on 20 and 21 October, the Council of Europe proposed to set up its own permanent high-level network of the police forces of the 47 member states.
Some 90 police officers and experts attended, and discussed issues such as the recruitment and training of law enforcement officers, the role and place of women in the police, and the responsibility and internal and external control of the police. They concluded that there was a need to step up the exchange of good practices and co-operation at European level to better meet the current challenges faced by the police.
The meeting was also an opportunity to point out that the Council of Europe's European Code of Police Ethics was still a point of reference even 20 years after its adoption.
The conference was opened by the Minister of Citizens’ Protection of Greece, Michalis Chrisochoïdis, and Claire Hédon, Défenseur des droits (France).
