INTERPOL

Introduction:

· Created in 1923
· With its 190 member nations, Interpol is the world's largest international police organization.
· Its primary objective is to reduce criminal activity across the world by facilitating the cross-border exchange of police information and promoting cooperation among law enforcement authorities in its member nations.
· One of Interpol's most important functions is to assist its members through the ‘issuance of notices’ that facilitate the sharing of crime- related information among countries and are the main instruments of international police cooperation.

Structure and Governance:

· General Secretariat in Lyon, France,
· Six Regional Bureaus, one Liaison
Office, and
· Special Representatives of INTERPOL to the UNO and to the EU in Brussels.
· A National Central Bureau (NCB) in each member country

Official Languages:

Four official languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish

INTERPOL’s Functions

· INTERPOL works closely with all member countries and international organisations such as the UN and EU to combat transnational crime.
· INTERPOL performs the following four core functions:

1. Secure global police communications services

· INTERPOL has developed a global police communications system, known as I-24/7,
· This system enables any member country to request for, and submit and access, vital data instantly in a secure environment.
Ø Liaison Bureau (LB) is connected to this system and frontline officers can obtain INTERPOL services via LB.


2. Operational data Services and databases for police

· Through I-24/7, member countries, including the Force, have direct and immediate access to a wide range of databases, including Nominal Data; Stolen and Lost Travel Documents; Stolen Motor Vehicles; Stolen Works of Art; DNA Profiles; Fingerprints, and Counterfeit Payment Cards.
· For instance, in 2008, Organised Crime and Triad Bureau utilised the Stolen Motor Vehicles Database during an operation and identified three recovered vehicles as the ones reported stolen by the National Police Agency of Japan.
· INTERPOL also disseminates critical crime-related data through a system of international notices. Based on the requests from member countries, the INTERPOL General Secretariat (IPSG) produces notices in all of the organisation's four official languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

3. Operational police support services

· Based at IPSG (Interpol Secretariat General), the Command and Co-ordination Centre operates around the clock.
· It links IPSG, National Central Bureaux and regional offices,
· It serves as the first point of contact for any member country faced with a crisis situation.
· This may include deployment of Incident Response Teams or Disaster Victim Identification Teams to the sites of terrorist attacks or natural disasters.
· It may also send INTERPOL Major Event Support Teams (IMEST) to assist the host countries of sporting events or world summits with security efforts.
· For example, INTERPOL sent their IMEST to render assistance to the Force during Hong Kong's hosting of the WTO MC6 Conference in 2005.

4. Police training and development

· INTERPOL Global Learning Centre is a Learning Management System composed of a directory of experts, e-learning packages and a depository of research papers and best practices.
· Together with regular training programmes, the organisation ultimately aims at enhancing member countries' capacity in combatting transnational crime and terrorism.

INTERPOL Notices and Diffusions

· INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
· In the case of Red Notices, the persons concerned are wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or court decision.
· INTERPOL's role is to assist the national police forces in identifying and locating these persons with a view to their arrest and extradition or similar lawful action.
· Notices are used by the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court to seek persons wanted for committing crimes within their jurisdiction, notably genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Diffusion:

· Similar to the Notice is another request for cooperation or alert mechanism known as a 'diffusion'.
· This is less formal than a notice but is also used to request the arrest or location of an individual or additional information in relation to a police investigation.
· A diffusion is circulated directly by an NCB to the member countries of their choice, or to the entire INTERPOL membership and is simultaneously recorded in INTERPOL’s Information System.

Purposes of Notices and Diffusions:

· Wanted persons
· Seeking additional information
· Warnings about known criminals
· Missing persons
· Unidentified bodies
· Special INTERPOL-UN Security Council
· Warnings of threats

Types of Notices:

· Red Notice

To seek the arrest or provisional arrest of wanted persons, with a view to extradition.

· Yellow Notice
To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.

· Blue Notice
To collect additional information about a person's identity or activities in relation to a crime.

· Black Notice
To seek information on unidentified bodies.

· Green Notice
To provide warnings and criminal intelligence about persons who have committed criminal offences and are likely to repeat these crimes in other countries.

· Orange Notice
To warn police, public entities and other international organisations about potential threats from disguised weapons, parcel bombs and other dangerous materials.

·  Purple Notice
To seek or provide information on modi operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.

· INTERPOL–United Nations Security Council Special Notice
Issued for groups and individuals who are the targets of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.