EU Conference in Hämeenlinna on prevention of alcohol related offences

At the Conference good drug related crime prevention projects will be presented. A total of around thirty projects have been submitted to the Conference from different countries. The projects deal with i.a. the reduction of drinking among young people and related crime, the prevention of restaurant related violence and crime and the reduction of crime committed by drug abusers.

The Minister of Justice, Ms Leena Luhtanen will participate in the Conference, at which the Crime Prevention Award will be presented. Thirteen crime prevention projects from different countries have been entered to compete for the prize of 20 000 dollars. This is a record number of EU countries in the 10-year history of the contest. About half of the participating projects relate to young people.

Many internationally regarded researchers in this field will be heard at the Conference, Doctor Kathryn Graham from Canada will speak on the prevention of restaurant related violence, Professor Michael Klein from Germany will speak on the relations between drugs and violence and Professor Paul Ekblom from the UK will speak on the identification of good crime prevention practices. Finland will be represented by Doctor Martti Lehti, who will speak on the relations between alcohol and homicide.

The Conference is the main annual event of the European Crime Prevention Network, EUCPN. The Network promotes cooperation in this field between the EU countries, collects information on best practices in the prevention of crime and supports crime prevention activities at the national and local level. The Conference is a part of the EU Presidency programme The aim is to strengthen and professionalize the activity of the Crime Prevention Network during the Finnish Presidency.

Additional information: Mr Hannu Takala, Executive Secretary of the National Council for Crime Prevention, telephone + 358 9 1606 7860,
Senior Planning Officer Jukka-Pekka Takala, telephone +358 9 1606 8211