Prague hosted the “SIRENE” conference within the cooperation of the Schengen Information System. The police evaluated the results of the search
For two days, Prague was the center of communication about the Schengen area from a security point of view. As part of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU (#CZPRES), the Police of the Czech Republic hosted a conference of SIRENE directors, as reported by Capt. David Schön from the information service of the Ministry of the Interior.
“SIRENE (Supplementary Information Request at the National Entry) are police units that form one of the basic pillars of the comprehensive Schengen cooperation system and operate in all states connected to the Schengen Information System (SIS),” specifies the report of the Ministry of Interior.
These units “ensure round-the-clock cooperation in the search for wanted persons in possessions, unwanted foreigners and the exchange of information about dangerous suspects or missing children”.
Migration and launch of a new version of the information system
As part of the conference on October 21-22, the leaders of the national SIRENE headquarters addressed not only challenges related to migration and maintaining security in the Schengen area, but also, for example, effective preparation for the possible expansion of the Schengen area or rapid information exchange leading to the support of internal security within the entire EU . The main topic then is the launch of the new version of the Schengen Information System, the info service continues.
Thanks to this system, “every police officer, as well as customs officers and other community security personnel in the Schengen countries, has online access to search for criminals, children at risk or stolen property in all member states”, informs the Ministry of the Interior. This then accelerates the possibility of intervention against persons breaking the law and securing stolen items. The database currently contains almost 90 million records.
Successes in the search for persons and missing children
As an example from the Czech perspective, it is mentioned how “in the past, for example, thanks to the SIS record, French colleagues in the Czech Republic managed to secure stolen persons”. Another success, according to the interior, is that this year, thanks to SIS, more than 220,000 people and things were located.
“Within the Czech Republic alone, thanks to SIS and the cooperation of the SIRENE central offices, more than 430 wanted persons were traced, and from abroad it was possible to hand over almost 300 persons prosecuted for criminal activity, as well as several dozen missing children, to the Czech courts,” the report states.
Thanks to the integral part #CZPRESS police officers from the PP Directorate for International Police Cooperation actively prepared, hosted and in many cases directly chaired specific meetings of law enforcement authorities in the EU. This is also the case with the two-day conference in Prague.
“The police of the Czech Republic and its units do not only ensure the security of the events themselves as part of #CZPRES, but are an active participant in the negotiations and preparation of strategic decisions and concrete steps to strengthen European security,” concludes the information from Capt. David Schön October 21, 2022.