BTL-COP (Building Trust and Leadership to challenge glocal aporophobic crime in a police Community of Practice) is a Horizon Europe–funded project working to strengthen trust and collaboration between communities and police across Europe.
The project addresses poverty-driven and socially marginalised crime, focusing on how trust, leadership, and cooperation at neighbourhood level can help prevent harm, improve safety, and build long-term resilience. BTL-COP brings together police authorities, researchers, community organisations, municipalities, and innovators to co-create practical, trust-based solutions that respond to real local needs.
Project Objectives
BTL-COP aims to:
- Strengthen trust and leadership between communities and police
- Prevent and address crime linked to poverty and social vulnerability
- Support early identification and reporting of emerging risks
- Equip police, judicial actors, and community partners with practical tools and training
- Test and validate innovative social and technological solutions in real-life settings
- Promote knowledge exchange and shared learning across Europe
Our Approach
BTL-COP is grounded in a community-centred, co-creation approach that places people, relationships, and local contexts at the heart of security and crime prevention.
The project combines research, technology, training, and real-world engagement to support police authorities in identifying, preventing, and investigating poverty-driven and aporophobia-related crime.
BTL-COP’s methodology is operationalised through four interconnected core components, supported by dissemination, communication and exploitation activities (WP6 & WP7) to ensure that knowledge, tools, and results extend beyond the project’s lifetime.
Together, these elements form a cohesive framework for trust-based community policing.
- BTL-COP Observatory (WP2) - A dedicated framework for systematic data collection, analysis, and knowledge exchange, supporting evidence-based decision-making and early identification of emerging risks related to poverty-driven crime.
- BondMate System (WP3) - A technological support system designed to enable and strengthen trust-building initiatives, facilitate communication, and support community-police collaboration in practice.
- Training Curricula (WP4) - Comprehensive, practice-oriented training materials for police and judicial actors, focused on trust-based engagement, social sensitivity, and shared intelligence.
- TING Model – Trust in Neighbourhood Groups (WP5) - A scalable and co-designed model for sustainable community–police engagement, creating local “safe spaces” where trust, dialogue, and cooperation can grow.
Expected Impact
Through its activities and pilots, BTL-COP is expected to deliver impact at multiple levels:
For Communities
- Increased trust in public institutions
- Safer neighbourhoods and strengthened social cohesion
- Greater inclusion of young people and vulnerable groups
For Police and Practitioners
- Improved community engagement and intelligence sharing
- Practical tools and training for trust-based policing
- Better prevention and response to poverty-related crime
For Policy and Practice
- Evidence-based models for community policing and prevention
- Scalable and transferable approaches across Europe
- Contributions to EU policies on security, social inclusion, and resilience
Ultimately, BTL-COP aims to demonstrate that trust-based collaboration is not only socially valuable, but also an effective and sustainable way to enhance security and wellbeing across Europe.