Posted: June 10th, 2015

Europol

Europol

Europol is the law enforcement agency of the European Union. Their aim is to help achieve a safer Europe by supporting the law enforcement agencies of European Union member states in their fight against international serious crime and terrorism.
In that last paragraph it states their role! Now I will have to critically asses their role. How effective are they supporting member state law enforcements? How effective is their fight against serious crime:

?         Drugs – the Class A drugs trade and the illegal drugs market in the EU.
?    Fraud – how government, businesses and individuals all suffer the effects.
?    Organised crime groups – what they are and how they are formed.
?    Human trafficking – the movement of illegal immigrants for exploitation within the EU.
?    People smuggling – transporting illegal immigrants into the EU.
?    Money laundering – how criminals ‘clean’ their dirty money.
?    Identity crime – how criminals use false identities and documents.
?    Firearms – the use of guns by organised criminals.
?    Intellectual property crime – the counterfeiting and piracy of goods.
?    Counterfeit currency – the latest trends.
?    Kidnap and extortion – a serious concern, both in the EU and worldwide.
?    Terrorism is self explanatory – ETA, IRA, Al Qaeda etc. 9/11, 7/7, Madrid bombing etc.

*It is a report so sub headings, graphs, statistics etc can be in the piece but do not let this remove yourself from writing as you would.*

What are the points we are looking for when marking the CW:
1.      Width of research – one main problem there are no set texts that everything you need. Peers book is a good starting point but you will have to read journal articles (the workbook has some suggested journals you should be trawling through to find some relevant articles).. You will have to look at websites for policy documents and annual reports. I again I have included some useful websites in the workbook.
2.      Balanced argument – this is one reason why we are encouraging you to read journal articles as in most occasions the writers have no vested interest in the agency/body they are discussing;
3.      Analysis – yes the ‘A’ word is still important, important as this is where the marks are. So to remind you consider the implications of what is going on. Why are the agencies/bodies doing what they do? What are the key points and why are they key? And so on – remember to be a critical reader as this will make you a critical writer;
4.      Referencing every point – you are being marked on this now, so reference every point you make, not just direct quotes.
Any data you come across be it charts, tables etc. then feel free to cut and paste it into your work.
You can use sub-headings in CW1. This is a report.
Key to your analysis is you are being asked to critically assess the agency/body’s role and their effectiveness. This is where you will bring in your analysis.
Bibliography – please do not split all the sources such as books, journals, websites, just have your bibliography and add all your sources to it in alphabetical order of the writer’s surname/name of department.
To remind you, look at how the writers in the journals lay out their work, how they reference, how they analyse issues etc.