CEPOL is a European Union (EU) Agency, established in 2005 (Council Decision 2005/681/JHA of 20 September 2005). CEPOL's mission is to bring together senior police officers from police forces in Europe - essentially to support the development of a network - and encourage cross-border cooperation in the fight against crime, public security and law and order by organising training activities and research findings.

CEPOL essentially operates as a network and therefore the roles and responsibilities within the network are varied. This section contains a brief description of the key roles within the network.

Based at Bramshill, 70 km west of London, CEPOL's Secretariat has about 30 staff members who carry out the day-to-day work of the agency within two departments: the Learning, Science, Research & Development Department (LSRDD)  and the Corporate Services Department. The Secretariat is managed by a Director appointed by CEPOL's Governing Board.

The Glossaries section contains information which explain frequently used acronyms, words and phrases used within the European Police environment as well as at national level in some countries.

For more info: http://www.cepol.europa.eu/index.php?id=about-cepol

The CEPOL e-Library:

The e-Library is the part of the CEPOL e-Net which allows the archiving, sharing and disseminating of any knowledge documents or scientific findings and related to policing and its context in the European arena to a target audience. This user group includes (senior) police officers, trainers, teachers and lecturers from (national) police colleges and academies in EU Member States as well as qualified academics from universities or established research institutes working on projects relevant for the field of police research and science. As every database its usefulness for the users is determined by the quality and variety of its input as well as by the awareness of its existence among the target groups. Within CEPOL the networks of National Research and Science Correspondents and National e-Net Managers have a role in identifying valuable content and sources and promoting its use.

The e-Library does not only hold bibliographical information of publications, but also information about police related research projects, either completed, ongoing or in planning. (More details: http://www.cepol.europa.eu/index.php?id=e-net-e-library)