During the last decade the OSCE has accumulated a wide range of knowledge and experience in the field of police and law enforcement related assistance. The lessons learned and examples of good practice gained from the OSCE field operations in the four South-Eastern European states of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia need to be preserved, stored and shared so that institutional knowledge can further benefit the OSCE and its participating States.

POLIS is a knowledge management tool created in response to the needs of the OSCE field operations staff involved in law enforcement activities and provides:

• Information resources — a repository of information on all policing-related activities previously or presently being undertaken in OSCE field operations. It identifies lessons learned, good practice and external sources of specialized knowledge;
• Policing Experts Database — a database of international law enforcement experts available for short-term assignments, needs assessments, new mission start-up planning or inspections;
• Events Calendar — a section where all policing-related events, organized by the OSCE institutions and field operations are advertised, accompanied by relevant materials. The Events Calendar is closely interlinked with the Digital Library providing access to the related documents.

POLIS is an on-line resource centre for police and law enforcement officers, policy analysts, policy makers, evaluation experts, and donors in the field of policing and rule of law, helping them to plan reforms and access feedback on existing initiatives.