CEPOL helps shape tomorrow’s law enforcement leaders

The European Union faces a complex and constantly evolving security landscape of cross-border threats like terrorism, cybercrime, and organised crime. Effective law enforcement cooperation across Member States is crucial, in order to navigate these challenges. However, diverse national police structures and practices can hinder this cooperation.

Equipping law enforcement leaders with the necessary skills in strategic planning, crisis management and international cooperation, empowers them to be effective leaders in a complex, dynamic and multi-cultural security environment. Furthermore, streamlined communication and collaboration between law enforcement agencies throughout the E.U, strengthens the overall effectiveness of our response to security challenges and promotes a culture, based upon common values and principles.

With this in mind, and in an effort to develop the necessary competencies and skills that will render future EU law enforcement leaders effective, the Hellenic Police Academy, with the cooperation of the Further Education and Training School organised CEPOL Activity 58/2025/ONS: “Law Enforcement Leadership – EU Crisis Management”.

The Activity was implemented from 26-30 May 2025, in Athens, Hellas, with contributions of experts from EU Member States such as Cyprus, Spain and Greece, along with members of Academia, the private sector, as well as experts from Europol, CEPOL, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I. – U.S.A.).

23 participants, from 16 EU Member States, as well as 3 participants from Europol, Frontex and Ukraine attended the activity. The participants were actively engaged and were providing their respective national and international approaches and experiences, transferring knowledge, identifying gaps and limitations, and exchanging best practices.

While the notions of leadership and crisis management can take many forms and can apply to many situations, the organising team tried to incorporate as much as possible in the curriculum, giving a spherical view of their principles and typology, sharing information on topics, such as cyber-attacks, border control / immigration crisis, terrorist attacks, and providing participants with valuable tools, tips and best practices, which would aid them in their line of work. The curriculum aimed to be as diverse and inclusive as possible, without diluting its practical European law enforcement core, while also featuring such topics as, psychological aspects of stress management, emotional intelligence, group dynamics, cultural understanding and acceptance, AI tools in crisis management and innovation methods and techniques in leadership.

Our learning strategy included high levels of interaction and contribution from our participants, in the form of pre-course assignments, working groups, workshops, brainstorming sessions, plenary discussions; study visits (Civil Protection National Coordination Centre of Operations), as well as real time tabletop exercises. Each day of the programme, was focused on a different learning outcome, trying to keep a linear but also logical progression on the topic.

The delivery of the training followed a path that encompassed the principles of Leadership and Crisis management from various directions: from the academic to the practical, from the general to the specific, and from the wide to the narrow. It approached the subject matter from different vantage points, offering unique perspectives to participants, not only focusing on the European, but also incorporating a global perspective.

The participants highly valued and appreciated the organisation of the activity and the added value brought on by the experts, as was reflected by their feedback:

Mr. Martin KUNTZE, a participant from Germany, stated: 

"The activity was very well organised and coordinated. The expertise and engagement of the facilitators were only exceeded by their hospitality and sympathy. The whole course was deliberately structured, with a fine-balanced mixture of scientific input and practical exercise. My knowledge and capabilities in leading and managing crisis situations have been significantly increased.  We participants have shared a lot of professional experience, and I took new ideas and insights back home to my working place. Well done! Σας ευχαριστώ πολύ! (Thank you very much!)“.

Mrs. An BAEYENS, a participant from Belgium, commented: 

“It was an honour to be selected to attend the E.U. Crisis Management Course, held by CEPOL Greece last week.

A real eye opener, first of all, for as a Belgian law enforcement officer, I only had a slight idea of the kind of crises my Greek colleagues experience on a regular basis. Also, because this course was focusing on a broader spectrum: not only law enforcement issues have been debated, but also crises that on the basis concern maybe other authorities, but that involve law enforcement in some way or another.

I can really recommend attending this course, since it will broaden your knowledge and awareness on European threats".

Mr. Bert STEELANDT, also from Belgium underlined that the training offered ‘a deep dive into EU crisis management’ and added that the participants were satisfied with the speakers and the content of the course.

Our experts also provided positive feedback about their experience:

Mr. Alejandro LOPEZ LOPEZ, an expert from Spain stated: 

“First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to CEPOL and the Hellenic Police for giving me the opportunity to share the perspective of the Spanish National Police on the topics addressed. Secondly, I would like to highlight the excellent organisation of the course, the impressively high level of the participants, and the outstanding expertise of the speakers. There has been great synergy among all those involved, and I am truly happy to have taken part in this training experience. Once again, thank you all, and I look forward to meeting you again soon”.

Dr. Petros PASHIARDIS, Professor Emeritus at the Open University of Cyprus noted that this CEPOL training activity organised by the Hellenic Police has been one of the best workshops he has ever attended, in terms of organisation and content, and noted that all the experts and lecturers were excellent and knowledgeable in their field, while the level of participants was also very high, thus elevating the level of the workshop even more. "The discussions that took place were fascinating and challenging for both trainers and participants", he added.