On Tuesday 24th and Wednesday 25th September 2024, a delegation of Oslo Police District attended a two-day study visit which took place at the offices of the Hate Crime Unit of the Hellenic Police, with the aim of exchanging knowledge and best practices in matters related to preventing and combating hate crimes.
Specifically, the two-day event was organized by the European and Development Programmes Management Agency of the Ministry of Citizen Protection and the Hate Crime Unit of the Hellenic Police, through the Bilateral Relations Activity entitled: “Preventing and combating hate crimes“. During the two days’ study visit, there were presentations of investigation operations and discussions among all parties involved (law enforcement authorities, government and non- governmental organizations) on issues related to hate crimes with an emphasis on holistic support for victims of these crimes.
The Activity is implemented in the framework of Bilateral Relations Fund of the GR-G Programme “Capacity building of national asylum and migration management systems” of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA), period 2014-2021. European and Development Programmes Management Agency (E.D.P.M.A.) serves the role of Project Promoter and cooperates with officers of the Hate Crime Unit of the Hellenic Police and the Hate Crime Unit from Oslo Police District, which is the Partner from the Donor States. The Activity includes mutual educational visits and the organization of workshops with the aim of exchanging knowledge and best practices in matters related to dealing with hate crimes.
On the first day, the agenda included many presentations of the procedures followed in the Hate Crime Unit of the Hellenic Police to the Oslo Police delegation. Particularly, there were:
- Presentation of the Hate Crime Unit consisting of twenty-five (25) people as well as a substantive discussion comparing methods and practices used by Greece and Norway,
- Description of the challenges that arise in legislative and practical matters as well as presentations of any solution already given,
- Presentation of the cooperation between different Hellenic Police Services, such as the Sub-Directorate for the Protection of Minors and the Cyber Crime Division
On the second day, there was an open discussion among officers of the Norwegian Police and the Greek participants of Public sector as well as NGOs. The open discussion took place in a Hall of the Center for Security Studies (KE.ME.A.) and Mrs. Avgoustinaki Stavroula, the prosecutor responsible for hate crimes in the Athens Attorney’s Office, was present. A Member of the Norwegian Embassy in Athens, as well as many representatives of non-governmental organizations were also present in the discussion.
Mrs. Prosecutor, expressed her satisfaction for the good, serious and well-structured work of the Police Officers of the Hate Crime Unit and emphasized the need for constant education and awareness raising of all police officers and judicial officials. Then, there was a presentation of innovative work of the Unit with the presence of one Hellenic Police psychologist. The psychologist works with the victims of hate crimes, bringing coziness so that they feel safe when addressing the police officers. Then, there was a very dynamic and interesting discussion with exchange of views between Hellenic Police and the Non-Governmental Organizations. In Greece, the creation of a special Unit for this type of offenses was a very positive milestone at the combat against racism. Finally, there were some areas for improvement identified in the discussion such as: early detection of crimes all over Greece, even in places where police officers are not yet fully trained, adequate – substantial support of the victims after the crime has been committed, as well as follow-up of the cases at all stages followed. Throughout the two days’ sessions, there were also private discussions between Norwegian and Hellenic Police officers on issues of particular interest to the Norwegians, with emphasis on best planning for dealing with hate crimes.
The active participation and great interest showed by the participants proved that there are good channels of communication between the two countries, and both parties gained new ideas for the procedures of dealing with hate crimes.
