Tackling organised crime requires a concerted, integrated strategy combining criminal justice, administrative law and tax law measures. The Regional Information and Expertise Centres (RIECs) and the National Information and Expertise Centre (LIEC) reinforce the administrative approach and support the overall integrated strategy.
In the Netherlands, the 10 RIECs and the LIEC support the fight against organised, undermining crime with the aim of stimulating cooperation and making the government and society more resilient in order to combat undermining.
The RIECs and LIEC do this by:
- increasing the awareness and resilience of the government and private parties about the problem of undermining crime;
- supporting and strengthening cooperation within the government and with public-private partners and
- sharing knowledge and expertise in the field of the administrative and integral approach of undermining crime.
The Regional Centres operate ‘in the field’, in close proximity to and typically at the request of the municipalities dealing directly with criminal activity and its effects. In recent years, municipalities have been given more options for countering organised crime and implementing administrative measures effectively. Because the Regional Centres work with their partners according to the ‘integrated, unless’ principle, this strategy is coordinated at the regional level. The National Centre facilitates and merges the Regional Centres’ efforts, acting as a shared service centre and knowledge hub for the Regional Centres and their partners, i.e. public administration bodies, tax and customs authorities, the police and the criminal justice authorities. At the request of the Regional Centres (or their partners), the Ministry of Justice and Security, mayors and/or national partners, the National Centre also performs a variety of nationwide, supra-regional tasks. The National Centre is also the national desk for administrative and cross-border matters.