(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Modernising law enforcement techniques was essential to bolster community trust and involvement while combating new online threats, opined delegates on the penultimate day of the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
A range of national examples, from online police presence and 24-hour hotlines to YouTube style programming, were offered by speakers during their discussion of agenda item 6: "National approaches to public participation in strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice".
The discussion was led by a guide and a working paper prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) that examined opportunities and challenges related to public participation, including the role of social media and new information and communications technology, community-centred initiatives and the social reintegration of offenders.
The paper also identified several recommendations for member-states to consider, including the design and implementation of prevention strategies to ensure the participation of all sectors of society, with a special role for youth.
Delegates were also briefed on conclusions reached at Workshop 4 on "Public contribution to crime prevention and raising awareness of criminal justice: experiences and lessons learned".
Social media was a key channel for engaging the public and should include civil society and private-sector partners, speakers said.The representative of Thailand said his country had it in mind when establishing the Justice Channel, an innovative YouTube-based television programme.That platform aimed at information dissemination, complementing other efforts, including the establishment of community justice centres.
In addressing the new threat of online terrorist recruitment, some delegates said that youth from their countries had, after a process of online radicalisation, joined groups as fighters in conflicts abroad. To counter that trend, Norway's representative said, police had, among other things, broadened their presence on the Internet. "It is important for us to base efforts to combat radicalisation and violent extremism on the same basic principles as the general prevention of crime," he emphasised.
France's speaker said his country had taken a number of steps, including recently establishing a 24-hour hotline to work against such radicalisation.
Implementing measures to gain community trust in law enforcement was important for a number of speakers.
Some delegates described multidimensional approaches, with Mexico's representative saying that an overhaul of her country's justice system included reforms based on the principles of the rule of law, crime prevention and protecting victims' rights, and new laws were being discussed on juvenile justice.
National efforts in El Salvador involved civil society, the private sector and robust public participation.
Volunteerism was another method used by states to boost public participation. Germany's delegate said 3,000 volunteers worked nationwide to care for crime victims.
Libya's representative highlighted his country's voluntary police programme, but cautioned that participants must be protected from revenge attacks and from lawyers purporting that volunteers were not recognised by the criminal code.
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