NEW UNIT FOR THE COMBAT AGAINST "ORGANISED CRIME"
Austria's minister of Home Affairs, Franz Löschnak, announced the creation of a new "Operation Group D for the combat against organised crime", EDOK, in December 1992.
In the minister's opinion, organised crime (OC)has spread from drug related crime, smuggling (of illegal migrants) and car thefts to nearly "all profitable forms of delinquency", such as "theft of cultural objects, counterfeiting, burglery, economical crimes, robbery and theft of juwelry", thus requiring detection and classification of OC delicts at the earliest possible stage. According to the minister, "planned proceeding of the the perpetrators, the preparation and execution of the criminal act" and the "well-reasoned exploitation of the loot" are significant indication for the presence of OC. "Influential persons" are at a particularly high risk of being blackmailed by criminal organisations, because of some "little foible".
EDOK will mainly have a coordinating role, but will also have operational powers in cooperation with local security bodies.
Mr. Löschnak also advocates new legislation in the domain of OC, in particular with an "effective protection of witnesses".
EDOK is to develop direct contacts with "similar foreign special units", in order to insure speedy and unburocratic cooperation in tracking international criminal networks.
A new databas on OC is further to be set up for the collection of "all OC relevant" data. Informations are to be stored in the new register, in presence of "continued common action of at last three persons, the particular dangerousness of their proceeding, or a dammage exceeding a half a million [Austrian] shillings".
EDOK is under direct control of the chief of "group D" (department of criminal police and Interpol).
Source: Zeitschrift "Öffentliche Sicherheit", No. 1-2/93, publ. by Bundesministerium für Inneres, Austria."