Task Force on Organized Crime in Bulgaria

The key motivation of this project was our understanding that the lack of a shared position about the sources and the social dynamics of organized crime is among the major sources for the failure of the anti-crime policies and the current war of institutions. Our concern was that the rift between the police and the judiciary creates only further weakening of the state. Therefore we established a task force representing institutions and civil society as a response to the war between the institutions.
Among the main objectives of the task force were:

discussion of how organized crime is understood and conceptualized by key law-enforcement and other institutions - police, judiciary system, the human rights community, media, and the general public;
analysis of the possible impact of different policy approaches towards crime;
establishment of efficient communication channels between the institutions
studying the possibility for shaping the public perspective on organized crime

Our project aims were:

formation of a common perception between the police and the judicial system about the nature of crime and the ways to confront it
addressing the issue to the media thus stimulating its influence on key insiders who will discuss new policies
drawing media attention to the negative aspects of the zero-tolerance approach
approaching government with key policy propositions and encouraging its response in particular with regards to the re-socialization of criminals

The final product of the Task Force was a report which analyzes the policy implications of conflicting conceptualizations of the issue of organized crime, as well as, provides policy advice. The report initiated a dialogue that should end with a shared understanding among the institutions as the essential precondition for effective policy against organized crime.
"The Fight against Organised Crime in Bulgaria: Review of Institutional Concepts and Strategies "

Period: September 2004 - February 2005

Coordinators: Daniel Smilov, Rashko Dorosiev

Financing Organisations: Open Society Foundation, New York; Balkan Trust for Democracy