Law enforcement capacity building in East Africa
Launched in 2010, the EU Critical Maritime Routes Law Enforcement Agencies (CRIMLEA) project aimed to enhance maritime security of nine selected countries in the Western Indian Ocean by reinforcing the capacity of their law enforcement agencies, forensic examiners/officers, prosecutors and coastguards to effectively combat acts of piracy, armed robbery at sea and other maritime-based organized crime threats.
In its four first years of implementation, CRIMLEA I (2010-2014) organised 30 training events attended by 294 participants. Training activities included courses on evidence preservation and collection, maritime crime scene investigation, interviewing techniques, presentation of evidence to courts, criminal intelligence data analysis, and computer forensics. A range of specialist equipment, including crime scene kits, mobile phone and Automated Fingerprint Identification System, were also supplied.
CRIMLEA II, launched in 2014, maintained its focus on the range of competences addressed in the previous phase. In addition, further emphasis was given to the financial dimension of investigations, in recognition of the role of money as the driving force behind organized crime activities.
In this regard, CRIMLEA II also encouraged the interaction and information exchange between Financial Investigation Units (FIUs) and law enforcement agencies at national, regional and international level.
CRIMLEA was managed by INTERPOL and ran until June 2017.
For more information about the CRIMLEA project, visit the CMR Library.
