By nature international, agile and capable of swiftly adapting and expanding, organised crime has a direct impact on local territories and is prevalent even in places that have long considered themselves safe. The infiltration of illegal activities into the public sector and the creation of illegal markets have a direct impact on local territories’ economic and social health. Local and regional governments are mobilised to protect their citizens as well as local administrative, economic and democratic processes against organised crime and its repercussions.

Working group

Since December 2019, Efus has coordinated a working group on ‘the local roots and impacts of organised crime’, which is led by two member cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam (Netherlands). The group seeks to adapt local prevention policies to the characteristics of organised crime, in particular the fact that it is transnational; to curb the impact of illicit money flows on local security and public order; to develop adapted evaluation tools; to facilitate the transfer of promising practices among cities; to work on the impact of organised crime on European port cities as well as on society at large in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, and lastly to strengthen the prevention of human trafficking. Join the group on Efus network

> Positioning
 
In its 2017 Security, Democracy and Cities Manifesto, Efus recommends that ‘local authorities, citizens, civil society and the private sector be involved in the prevention and fight against organised crime’. Local and regional authorities ‘must use all the measures available to them, in addition to penal law, by using administrative and regulatory tools, as well as tools for prevention and education to legality’. Efus members commit to ‘using administrative measures to fight organised crime and prevent criminals from using legal structures or operating in local markets for illegal activities.’