Administrative and legal tools and instruments in the activities of the police in the field of road safety are little-studied issues in the scientific literature, and law enforcement and international legal, organizational practice do not always comply with the law. Blurred legal regulation of road safety is one of the problems of reducing accidents, accidents and deaths. The purpose of this article is to identify the effectiveness of legal regulation of police units in European countries in the field of road safety. The research methodology is based on the “anthropological approach in which the overall research context is emphasized in the text”. Secondary interview data and content analysis of publications for 2008-2021 were used to conduct a qualitative research to study EU policy and norms. The results demonstrate progress in road safety through a comprehensive system approach of policy implementation under the Road Safety Program 2011-2020. Improving compliance with the rules is one of the main components of EU policy implemented by various countries at the national level through national road safety programs. As a result of increased controls, most EU countries have managed to reduce accidents and deaths, but in middle-income countries there are still problems with police operations. These problems concern the inadequate outdated legal framework, which is not effective in the conditions of dynamic change of road infrastructure, integration of intelligent systems on roads for the strengthened control and accident prevention. EU policy and national legislation often remain rather vague, particularly in the context of motorcyclist and pedestrian safety, especially in urban areas. The lack of accuracy and detail in the legislation of safety measures exacerbates the problem of accidents. Police activities often do not provide a sufficient level of control when, under environmental pressures, the police are unable to provide quality traffic and data management

Theoretical and legal aspects of providing operative and search prevention among persons under the age of eighteen by criminal police units have been researched in the article. Scientific provisions of operative and search prevention as a form of operative and search activity have been analyzed. It has been proved that children commit criminal offenses in the social environment under the influence of negative factors. The influence of adult instigators upon involvement of children into commission of criminal offenses has been stated. The range of subjects authorized to carry out operative and preventive measures among children has been identified. The normative and legal basis of implementing operative and search prevention measures among children has been analyzed. The tasks of criminal investigation units, migration police, drug enforcement units, cyber police to prevent the involvement of children into illegal activities have been clarified. The research has established the relationship between the elements of operative and search prevention among children. Based on the analysis of theoretical developments in the field of operative and search activities, the need for a comprehensive approach to solving the problem of preventing criminal offenses among children is indicated. Attention is drawn to the importance of initiative search activities of criminal police units among children. It is concluded that a child is the object of operative and search prevention of criminal police units.