ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that, in English Channel region, 1992 was moment in an ongoing process of cross-border police development. It draws on data gathered between 1994 and 1996 in Kent, Belgium, France and the Netherlands concerning transnational police work in north-western Europe. For the purposes of this analysis one can break down the history of policing in the English Channel into four periods. The first of these runs from 1968 to 1970. During this period the foundation of the transnational police network was laid and its working practices established. The second phase is the longest in the history of police co-operation in this region thus far and it runs from 1971 until 1985. The third period is rather shorter, extending from 1986 until 1991. This phase was an interregnum of sorts, during which the planning for the Channel Tunnel 'fixed-link' project was underway. Finally, the exchange of criminal intelligence became firmly embedded in the technology of the 'information age'.
