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About the exposure of three undercover policewomen in Hamburg
In three successive years, undercover policewomen from the Hamburg Criminal Police Office have been unmasked by activists. Their assignments included cases with international connections. At least two of the officers also maintained sexual or intimate relationships with their targets or informers. This was the subject of several meetings of Hamburg’s internal-affairs authorities and of internal […]
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Airbus arms firm leads consortium for European long-range armed drone project
The German Ministry of Defence has named Airbus as the main contractor for a two-year study for a European long-range armed drone. The contract is due to be signed before the summer recess, and work is to begin in September. The total cost of the project exceeds one billion euros. The German Federal Ministry of […]
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First child pornography, now extremism: Internet providers and police investigation authorities to use Microsoft upload filters
Material uploaded onto the Web could soon be scanned for extremist or radicalising content with an upload filter produced by Microsoft. The filter would be installed in the systems of Internet service providers (ISPs), but the necessary databases could be held by the police authorities. Two weeks ago in Washington, the international Counter Extremism Project […]
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International investigative bureau in Vienna to combat “migrant smuggling”
On 4 May 2016, the Austrian Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Sobotka opened the “Joint Operational Office against Human Smuggling Networks” (JOO) in Vienna. In a statement, the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that the institution was an “international investigative bureau against human smuggling”. The centre has an initial complement of 38 staff […]
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New Europol regulation due to enter into force from May 2017 – oversight is likely to remain superficial
On 1 May 2017, the new regulation on Europol will enter into force. The compromise agreed on in the framework of the trilogue procedure lays down new more detailed provisions on oversight of the activities of Europol by the European Parliament. Article 88 (2), sentence 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European […]
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New FRONTEX agency: satellite reconnaissance and drones over the Mediterranean
The EU is taking its maritime surveillance to a new level. The three agencies responsible for coastal and maritime surveillance are to be merged. 81 million euros has been earmarked for unmanned aerial vehicles alone, with hundreds of millions also being spent on the necessary satellite capabilities. The money is flowing into the coffers of […]