BiH authorities not cooperating with experts on crime prevention

Authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina still do not use research from the academic community to improve the situation regarding the fight against organized crime in our country, warned Dr. Almir Maljević from the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies in Sarajevo in a statement to the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

In BiH, this expert explains, there is not a sufficient number of studies, or they are partial, when it comes to organized crime, so it is still not possible to say which type of crime is most prevalent in BiH, nor to what extent certain segments of that crime threaten our society.

In the capital of BiH, the 15th International Conference on Cross-Border Crime began today, with experts from several European countries participating. Dr. Maljević, director of the Center for Crime Policy Research (CPRC) and organizer of this conference, says he does not feel that anything has changed in recent years regarding organized crime, precisely because authorities, not only in BiH but worldwide, do not sufficiently use the academic community, whose research and findings can help create better policies towards this complex type of problem.

- The academic community in BiH, especially when it comes to the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies, has one of the three strongest institutions in the former Yugoslavia regarding assessments and analyses of any form of crime. Unfortunately, it is absurd that the academic community is knocking on the doors of institutions and offering this research. The situation will change the moment authorities recognize the need for data and start asking us for analyses and studies, that is, to work as partners in the fight against organized crime – Maljević told NAP.