In January 2025, the Latvian State Police with the Norwegian Police University College launched the execution of initiative No. EEZ/DSF/VP//2024/2 "Training for State Police employees to acquire knowledge in the field of collection, analysis and evaluation of evidence used in the process of combating cross-border computer crime" financed by the Fund for Bilateral Relations under the European Economic Area (EEA) Financial Mechanism Programme "International Police Cooperation and Combating Crime" for the period 2014-2021.
This initiative aimed to increase the capacity of the Latvian State Police to collect, analyze and evaluate evidence used in the process of combating cross-border cybercrime, strengthening cooperation between Norway and Latvia. The implementation period of the initiative started on 13 January 2025 and the last training took place on 7 February; the total funding of the initiative is EUR 143 454.
During the initiative, 4 training cycles were created and 11 experts from the Norwegian Police University College visited Latvia. In total, more than 50 representatives of law enforcement institutions were trained in the training cycles, most of whom were employed by the State Police.
Topics such as data science, mobile forensics and network forensics were covered in the training cycles. The Norwegian Police University College is also one of the founding members of the European Cybercrime Training and Education Group, which conducts research in the field of combating and preventing cybercrime. The knowledge gained during the training will enable State Police officers to collect and analyze electronic evidence more effectively, which is necessary for the investigation of cybercrimes.
The initiative of the Fund for Bilateral Relations “Training for State Police employees to acquire knowledge in the field of collection, analysis and evaluation of evidence used in the process of combating cross-border computer crime” is executed in the framework of the EEA grants for the period 2014-2021 managed by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Latvia.
Link to the EEA and Norway Grants Funding page