Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of the ICPC on the security of mobility: a review of the paths of action, innovation and prevention

From October 4 to 6, 2022, the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime organized the 7th International Conference on Observation, Analysis and Prevention of Insecurity, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Transport, the International Union of Railways, the International Association of Public Transport, the Union of Public Transports, Safe.brussels, the Institute of Higher Studies of the Ministry of the Interior, the government of Quebec and the government of Canada. The event took place at the headquarters of the International Union of Railways in Paris.

The main theme of the conference was Security in Mobility. Through a collaboration with French, Belgian, and Canadian partners, the event succeeded in presenting various approaches and raising awareness on multiple issues surrounding safety and insecurity in mobility. This conference revealed the importance of the risks and challenges faced by public transport, which is part of our daily lives.

The conference included several workshops addressing a wide range of topics related to safety and insecurity in mobility. These topics included the feeling of insecurity, public transit harassment, crisis management in the face of the terrorist threat, verbal abuse and aggression against staff, fare evasion, crisis management, and technological prevention tools, social prevention of violence and incivilities, crisis management: sharing experiences on current crisis situations, and situational prevention and the CPTED approach in mobility. 

These proceedings are a complete synthesis of all the information shared during the activities, as well as the exchanges between the different speakers and the participants. They are now available for consultation.

The main points to remember are as follows:

  1. The issue of harassment on public transport is a major problem, particularly detrimental to women.
  2. Crime does not occur randomly; it is influenced by circumstances and factors that facilitate criminal opportunities and acts of delinquency.
  3. There is a paradoxical cohabitation between individuals in great precariousness and users who pay for a service and naturally expect a certain level of quality.

You can access the proceedings by clicking on the corresponding links:

English version

French version

Spanish version

ICPC participates in a day of workshops organized by the Quebec Ministry of Public Safety

On March 14, the ICPC had the opportunity to participate in a day of workshops on gun violence prevention, organized by the Quebec Ministry of Public Safety. The goal of the workshops was to discuss the main initiatives carried out under the 2019-2023 Action Plan, that is part of the Contribution Agreement of the Gun and Gang Violence Action Fund. We are grateful to the Ministry for providing us with this opportunity to present our activities and results in relation to our Montreal Urban Safety Laboratory. This event allowed the ICPC to share its knowledge and expertise in urban safety, and to discuss with other stakeholders involved in the fight against gun violence.

ICPC participates in the fall PNI Coordination Meeting

On December 13, ICPC participated in the fall 2022 coordination meeting of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (NCPJ) Network as part of its role in the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The members of the network presented their recent and ongoing activities, reviewed the “Kyoto Declaration on Advancing Crime Prevention, Criminal Justice and the Rule of Law” and to discuss the presence of the PNI at the 32nd session of the CCPCJ to be held in 2023.

The ICPC in France for its 7th international conference

On October 5 and 6, 2022, the 7th International Conference on Observation, Analysis and Prevention of Insecurity, organized by the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Transport, the International Union of Railways, the International Association of Public Transport, the Union of Public Transports, Safe.brussels, the Institute of Higher Studies of the Ministry of the Interior, the government of Quebec and the government of Canada, took place in Paris. The conference was held at the headquarters of the International Union of Railways.  

For this 7th edition, the theme of the conference was: Security in Mobility.

To mark the beginning of this 7th edition of the international conference, an opening cocktail was held at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador in Paris. Our partner, the Canadian Embassy in France, and Amy Baker, Deputy Head of Mission, welcomed partners and speakers, for the first meeting between all the participants of this conference. 

The event included plenary sessions, workshops, and field visits. The conference gathered many participants from all over the world (nearly ten nationalities were represented among more than fifty speakers) concerned by the observation, the analysis, and the good practices related to the improvement of security in mobility, such as political agents, researchers, representatives of transport operators, NGOs, and institutional representatives.

Nearly 180 participants attended the conference, coming from 138 different companies and representing more than 20 countries from 4 continents.  

The ICPC would like to thank the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada for their financial support in the development of this conference. We were pleased to have Omar Alghabra’ support, Minister of Transport of Canada, via a video contribution and to host Michelle Boisvert, Delegate General of Quebec in Paris, in person, taking part in the opening remarks.

The opening plenary of the conference was introduced by the ICPC. Michelle Côté, Director of Research, and Florilène Cornier, Analyst and Project Officer, presented the conceptual framework of the conference around the current issues of safety in mobilities that are spread across the world. It was the opportunity to share the organization’s different expertise on the topic as well as the importance of a differential analysis of these safety issues from one country to another.  

During these two days of conferences, workshops were dedicated to specific phenomena, such as the fight against fraud, harassment in transport, prevention against the terrorist threat and crisis management, analysis of crime in transport and aggression to staff. These topics, among many others, were addressed by various representatives of transport operators discussing key security issues and how to prevent them.   

Discussions about effective tools to measure, analyze and study the phenomenon, examples of strong pathways and platforms for knowledge transfer, presentations of crime and safety approaches specific to mobility, effective evaluation as well as dissemination of best practices, were also part of these exchanges. 

Participants were also able to select and participate in one of the five different visits and demonstrations to further their practical knowledge:  

  • Two dog team demonstrations, cyno-detection, and cyno-attack by the Société nationale des chemins de fer français est l’entreprise ferroviaire publique française (SNCF).  
  • A demonstration of intervention techniques by the SNCF.  
  • A training offered by the Régie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP) on awareness for victims of harassment. Presentation of the Stand UP project and the 5D method in order to learn how to react safely in a harassment situation in a public place, as a victim or a witness.   
  • A visit organized by the RATP of the security devices and the security headquarters at the Gare de Lyon metro station. This visit allowed experts to discover the operating methods of security interventions.   
  • Presentation of a social collection bus by the RATP. This presentation was an opportunity to discover an original prevention system for reaching out to homeless people and fighting social exclusion and ensuring the safety of its transport systems.    

Being at its seventh event, this international conference has truly become a meeting point for crime observation and crime analysis. 

It should be noted that the proceedings of the conference will soon be available online.  

For any questions or requests, please write to info@cipc-icpc.org. 

Participation of ICPC in the presentation of Daniel Cunjama’s book

Fernando A. Chinchilla, Senior Analyst, participated on behalf of the International Center for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) in the web presentation of the book by Daniel Cunjama, teacher-researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Penales (INACIPE) and the Instituto de Estudios Criminológicos Transdisciplinarios (IECRIMT), “Manual de Prevencion del Delito“.  

This book published by Progettomondo, INACIPE and our member, IECRIMT, addresses the technical capacities required by institutional actors involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of crime prevention programs as the first point to be considered in the development of an evidence-based prevention policy.  

To view the presentation online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JItsDydsgs  

Thanks to Daniel Cunjama and INACIPE for the invitation.   

Meeting at the ICPC of the Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux 

On September 9, 2022, we had the pleasure of welcoming to our offices in Downtown Montreal, Mr. Amine Smihi, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux delegated to public tranquility, safety and prevention and Mr. Louis Audet Gosselin, Scientific and Strategic Director of the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalisation leading to Violence (CPRLV). The meeting was dedicated to present the organizations, to discuss the current issues and concerns of the City of Bordeaux in terms of urban safety, crime prevention and security governance, as well as to exchange on collaborations perspectives. 

We would like to thank Mr. Smihi for coming to Montreal; it was a pleasure to welcome him to our offices. We also thank Mr. Gosselin of the CPRMV for his participation in this very fruitful meeting. 

The ICPC met its network in France and Belgium 

The ICPC was back on a mission in Europe. During the month of May, Director General Ann Champoux met with several members, partners and new collaborators to discuss opportunities for collaboration in crime prevention. 

Meeting with the President of the ICPC Board of Directors, UIC and ONDT 

On Tuesday, May 17th, in Paris, the ICPC met with the President of the Board of Directors, Isabelle Lonvis-Rome, in order to discuss, among other things, the strategic programming 2021-2023 of the ICPC.   

In the afternoon, the Director General met Marie-Hélène Bonneau, Head of the security division for the International Union of Railways (UIC), and Fabrice Fussy, Head of the National Observatory of Crime in transports (ONDT), with the aim of exchanging and collaborating on the organization of a conference to be held in autumn 2022.   

Meeting with the International Relations Department of the Bordeaux City Council 

The Director General and the President of the Board of Directors of the ICPC went to Bordeaux for a meeting at the Judicial Court of Bordeaux in order to exchange with French stakeholders on issues related to domestic violence and Equality between women and men.   

Afterwards, Ann Champoux met Sophie Senghor, Deputy Director of the President’s Office and la Direction des Relations Internationales de la mairie de Bordeaux (the International Relations Department of Bordeaux City Council). This meeting was an opportunity to present the current activities of the ICPC, as well as the perspectives of collaboration to be set up in Bordeaux, around projects related to the prevention of the exploitation of women and urban safety.   

Meeting with the Délégation Générale du Québec à Paris 

On Friday, May 20, the ICPC was back in Paris to meet Lisa-Marlène Ntibayindusha, Political Affairs and Cooperation Advisor of the Délégation Générale du Québec à Paris (General Delegation of Quebec in Paris). The meeting focused on the current activities of the ICPC and future collaborations, notably for the organization of an international conference in autumn 2022. 

Meetings with the UITP and the Délégation générale du Québec à Bruxelles 

On Monday, May 23, a meeting took place at the offices of the UITP in Brussels, the International Association of Public Transport, with Karine Sbirrazzuolo, Co-Director of the Knowledge & Innovation Department, and Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, for a working meeting on security in transport.    

In the afternoon, a discussion took place with Stéphanie Franssen, Bilateral Affairs and Cooperation Attaché of the Délégation générale du Québec à Bruxelles (General Delegation of Quebec in Brussels, DGQB), to provide an update on international projects and future collaborations.  

Meeting with Bruxelles Prévention & Sécurité

On Tuesday, May 24, the ICPC was hosted for a working meeting at the offices of Bruxelles Prévention & Sécurité (Brussels Prevention & Security) to meet with the Executive Committee, including among others, the Director General and High Official for the Brussels region, Sophie Lavaux, as well as the Director of the Brussels Observatory for Prevention and Security, Christine Rouffin.   

Meeting with the Institut des hautes études du ministère de l’Intérieur (IHEMI) 

On Wednesday, May 25, Ann Champoux and Fabrice Fussy, Head of the National Observatory of Crime in transports, a partner organization of the ICPC, met with Éric Freysselinard, French High Civil Servant, Director of the Institute of High Studies of the Ministry of the Interior (IHEMI), to discuss issues related to transport insecurity in France.  

We would like to thank all our collaborators for their welcome and these fruitful exchanges. 

The visit of the delegation of the Carabineros of Chile at the ICPC

In the framework of the reciprocal cooperation agreement developed with its partner, the Carabineros de Chile, the ICPC received last week a delegation in Montreal. Exchanges were held throughout the week on approaches to building a common vision on crime prevention and on different policing approaches.

During the week, we were delighted to welcome Mr. Felipe Orellana Martínez, Consul General of Chile in Montreal, for an exchange session on policing realities in Quebec and Chile.   

Also, the ICPC and the Carabineros de Chile were hosted in Nicolet to meet with Mr. Pierre St-Antoine, Director General of the École Nationale de Police du Québec, as well as members to discuss approaches related to community policing and concentration policing.   

In addition, we had the pleasure of being welcomed by Mr. Fady Dagher, Director of the Service de police de l’agglomération de Longueuil, for a meeting and field visit in Longueuil, by Mr. Yann-Cédric Quéro, Chief of the Partnership and Diversity Division of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, for a meeting in Montreal, as well as  by the Sûreté du Québec and the Service du renseignement criminel du Québec for discussion meetings. 

Also, we had the pleasure to meet with Mr. Mathieu Parenteau, Director of America and the Caribbean of the Ministère des relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec for a Quebec-Chile exchange meeting on the themes of Quebec’s international action in the Americas and the reality of policing in Quebec.  

Finally, we would like to thank our partners, the Carabineros de Chile; it was a pleasure to welcome them and accompany them with the objective of developing common activities favoring the development of more inclusive and safer societies and communities. We would also like to thank all the ICPC partners who made these visits and exchange sessions possible.

The ICPC takes part in a TAHub meeting

The ICPC took part in the Traffik Analysis Hub (TAHub)’s January meeting, a network of 116 organizations across the globe, including the ICPC, whose goal is to contribute to the eradication of human exploitation of all kinds. This meeting included a presentation of new indicators that facilitate the analysis of current tendencies in human trafficking. The American organization Polaris whose mandate is to fight human trafficking also presented a data collection project focused on the U.S.-Mexico agricultural setting. Thanks to the implementation of a hotline, this organization has been able to collect information directly from victims, mostly undocumented Mexican workers, thus widening their impact in the community.