International Law Enforcement Observer V.

Abstract

This time, the aim of the column is to highlight topics from the foreign literature on law enforcement administration, which are partly operational and organisational issues and partly traditional criminological topics. It should be taken for granted that, in the third year of COVID–19, the fight against the epidemic remains topical. The editorial method used in this case again is to review European and overseas law enforcement journals in order to select publications in the areas identified above. The main findings of the completed reviews confirm the major aspirations of the law enforcement administration that characterize the third decade of the 21st century. These include the reform-oriented development of police organisations, the public security context of environmental and climate protection tasks, and the impact of the digital world on security. The main value of the column is that the reviews provide an extensive and professional overview of the latest international law enforcement literature, ensuring that those interested also have access to the original sources. The most sensitive area in the operation of police forces is the firm rejection of unlawful actions by the authorities, the guarantee of the legality of police procedures, the unveiling of cruel and degrading treatment, and the removal of persons who become unworthy of the civil service. Zsolt Lippai’s review also makes it clear that the reform of law enforcement organizations can bring reassuring results in enforcing the rule of law instead of symptomatic treatments. We can learn about an unusual new direction of research interest from the study surrounding the concept of public goods, which is described by Lénárd Zsákai. For both the European Union and individual Member States, security is an essential public good that must be clearly separated from private goods. The latter are typically exploited through market mechanisms. At international level, where the collective of states, – in addition to mutual security – can build integration on public goods such as the rule of law, health, defence, environmental awareness and climate protection, the most fruitful ways to act at national and EU level need to be found. Ádám Kalmár’s review reports on the new possibilities of crime prevention in the digital space, from which we can get an overview of the Dutch methods of computer-assisted risk analysis. Csaba Fekete presents the legal basis and functioning of the Slovak municipal police. Based on research in the United States and Spain, the work of Ivett Nagy reports on the seizure of the illegal drug market in the digital space. Péter Dulai analyses a study reviewing the history of serial killings in Australia. Mónika Herczeg draws readers’ attention to a study analysing the strategic and tactical steps taken by the French and Dutch governments to combat the COVID–19 epidemic.