ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the concept of Intelligence-led policing (ILP) as it is practised in the member states of the European Union (EU). The ambiguity of the concept may have consequences for the way in which ILP is welcomed and used in police agencies throughout Europe. ILP allows police organizations to create interconnections, both internally between police processes and externally with other (security) actors. In contrast, it may be conceivable that in the ILP model the police (and not the citizens or their elected representatives) determine crime-fighting priorities, which contrasts strongly with the spirit of the community policing model. Within the United Kingdom, it was particularly the Kent County Constabulary that was influential in spreading the concept of ILP. This came after the use of intelligence-led policing in Northern Ireland, where the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had been involved in a long-term anti-terrorism campaign against the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
