News
50 Years of Crime Prevention
Criminal Intelligence Service Austria celebrated 50 years of crime prevention with a ceremony on 4 June 2024. During this event, attendees reflected on the past five decades and the future of crime prevention.
The event was attended by Director General for Public Security Franz Ruf, Director of Criminal Intelligence Service Austria Andreas Holzer, Lower Austria Provincial Police Director Franz Popp, Vienna Deputy Provincial Police Chief Michael Lepuschitz, leading officers from the provincial CIDs and international guests.
In his opening statement, Director General for Public Security, Franz Ruf, highlighted, "There is a close interplay between repression and prevention of crimes. Therefore, prevention is nowadays a vital component of police work.” Changing crime areas and increasing digitalisation make cooperation between authorities and countries more important than ever. The Director General added, "We have a clear goal for the next 50 years: resolutely fighting crime together.”
Roughly 2,000 prevention officers in Austria
Ever since crime prevention was first established in Austria, it has continually increased and gained in importance. As crime continues to evolve, prevention models need to be adapted regularly to keep up with current crime trends. Every day, roughly 2,000 prevention officers provide citizens with information on a variety of crime areas, such as cybercrime, property crimes, fraud and domestic violence. They also offer important prevention work for youth. In 2023, more than 336,000 people in Austria received counselling from prevention officers.
Director of Criminal Intelligence Service Austria, Andreas Holzer, emphasized, "Our goal is to beat criminals to the punch, prevent harm, damages and crimes. Our lives have experienced change due to digitalisation and globalisation in the past 50 years. We have to keep up with the times and adapt our approaches regularly. In the past, we focused on tips regarding protection against property crimes. Nowadays we concentrate our efforts on the field of cybercrime.”
Diverse programme with international input
The event was filled with an overview of the history of crime prevention in Austria and specialist presentations on addiction prevention and phishing. Experts from Spain, Hungary and UNDOC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) presented crime prevention models applied in their countries and organisations.
A representative from the US Department Homeland Security offered attendees insight into sextortion prevention measures in the US. Two panel discussions, one on the evolution of crime prevention in Austria and one on future challenges, completed the day’s programme.