Abstract:

The research employs the thesis on the substantial interdependence between community early warning abilities and proactive law enforcement performance countering community-dependent crimes, such as human trafficking and modern slavery. Strong preventive capacities are needed in order to foresee the criminogenicity of social and labor relations at very early stage. It is not effective to build up these capacities throughout the own practice-based education only. Other societal institutes, including religious ones, have significant potential both to detect the beginning of the deviation, and to counteract it with the use of non-violent and non-governmental means. Involvement of these actors into the process of combating trafficking and modern slavery, starting from integrate education and training, reduces the number of victims who need for law enforcement (state) assistance, improves the quality of pre-trial investigation, as well as increases mutual confidence providing the personalized victim protection. The study explores the state of interaction between the police and religious communities in combating human trafficking and modern slavery that has been taking place in the format of the Santa Marta Group since 2014, when Declaration on Police and Catholic Church Cooperation was signed in Vatican. Moreover, the overall collaboration of the police with the religious communities has been enriched by interreligious declaration to combat human trafficking and modern slavery that was signed by the leaders of the world's major religions emphasizing the same understanding and willingness of all religions to protect the human dignity. In Lithuania, the Santa Marta Group has a networked organization, unites law enforcement, the Church, local communities and Lithuanian communities abroad, and has extensive experience including didactic one. Integrated education allows to bring together different religious communities/ecclesiastics and law enforcement to discuss the ongoing problems using different regulatory instruments and meanings for better understanding of behavioral reasons and particularities of neighbors. Scale and geography of the problems highlighted in the study indicate that many of these solutions go to local level that do not hold the needed didactic capacities and resources. There's insistent recommendation for the training initiator to target/motivate the training groups and to develop the initial didactic basis installing the innovative methods of life-long education and ensuring respectful and tolerant learning environment.

Keywords:

Law enforcement, religious communities, long-life education, integrated training, didactics.