Criminalistic-criminological research in the police is a field of tension between politics, science and practice. The main aim of the symposium series is therefore to strengthen and expand the exchange between stakeholders in North Rhine-Westphalia on selected topics of criminological research.
As the title of the event series already implies, the aim is to achieve results that are particularly important for the future work of security stakeholders. The events are therefore primarily geared towards future developments and challenges.
The third symposium on the topic of "Children and young people as perpetrators of violent crime" focused on the spread and development, manifestations and conditions of violent crime in childhood and adolescence.
The two-day symposium was planned and organized by the Criminalistic-Criminological Research Centre of the LKA NRW. The hybrid format included keynote speeches, panels on various topics, a video presentation, a panel discussion and the online presentation of ongoing KKF projects. The results of the symposium are briefly summarized below and are presented in the event documentation.
The event was opened by Minister Reul. The symposium series contributes to dealing with future social developments and the associated perspective requirements for the security authorities. Björn Ekhoff, Head of the Strategic Crime Prevention Department of the LKA NRW, then welcomed the participants and emphasized the high relevance of the topic, which is already expressed in a federal-state project group on child and youth crime that was founded in 2023. The head of the KKF, Dr. Maike Meyer, then explained the background to the symposium series and introduced the participants to the content of the event.
The event kicked off with two keynote speeches by Prof. Dr. Thomas Bliesener (Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony) and Prof. Dr. Clemens Kroneberg (University of Cologne/ ECONtribute). While Prof. Dr. Bliesener first presented various bright-field and dark-field statistics on the perpetration of children and adolescents over time, Prof. Dr. Kroneberg discussed the various influences on the development of violence in childhood and adolescence. Following both presentations, the participants were given the opportunity to ask the two speakers questions.
The symposium focused on a total of four main topics: Public space, digital space, conditions of emergence and approaches to action. Two phenomena or problems were focused on within each of the main topics. The aim of the panels was to develop concrete working hypotheses that highlight possible potential for action and needs that need to be addressed in the future.
The second day of the event offered - in addition to a brief review of the main topics of the first day - a look beyond the horizon. In interviews conducted in advance, researchers and practitioners from the fields of child and youth work, education and prevention work looked at the future of childhood and youth in order to identify possible challenges as well as potential. These then served as the starting point for the subsequent panel discussion.
This was followed by a panel discussion with representatives from schools, the police, academia, justice and social work, moderated by René le Riche (Düsseldorf Police Headquarters). The discussion focused in particular on the fields of action that require special attention when working with children and young people and the question of prevention strategies to deal with current challenges in a needs-based and sustainable manner.
The symposia are held every two years. The theme of the event in 2026 will be determined at a later date and depending on developments.
For detailed information on the proceedings, the content of the lectures and program as well as the results of the symposium, please refer to the event documentation. In addition, the most important contents can be found as a short conference report in the open access journal "Kriminologie - das Online Journal (KrimOJ)".