­Interpol is an external police agency that help other law - enforcement agencies track crook who operate across national borders . Although Interpol ’s work is not always as exciting or glamourous as fictitious accounts would have you think , the organisation ’s database , communication protocols and international notices are vital tools in the fight against internationalcrime .

The full name of Interpol is theInternational Criminal Police Organization , or the ICPO . It may also be abbreviated as OICP , forOrganisation Internationale de Police Criminelle , the Gallic interpretation of the name . Usually , it is referred to as Interpol , a name first selected as the telegraph stenography name for the agency .

Interpol is fully sovereign and independent of any single country . There are 186 member countries ( see the full list here ) . Interpol remains politically electroneutral and does not participate in any activity involvingpolitics , race or religion . The means is focused on several key area of crime :

Interpol also monitor and fights against human trafficking , the smuggling and sales agreement of illegal drug , money laundering , environmental crime , impostor andintellectual propertycrimes .

Interpol’s Job

I­nterpol differs from most law - enforcement agencies – agents do n’t really make arrests themselves , and there ’s no Interpoljailwhere criminals are admit . The agency functions as an administrative liaison between the law - enforcement way of the appendage countries , providing communicating and database assistance . This is vital when struggle internationalcrimebecause language , cultural and bureaucratic differences can make it hard for officeholder of different nations to work together . For example , ifFBIofficers chase after a terrorist to Italy , they may not know who to get through in the Polizia di Stato , if the Polizia Municipale has legal power over some aspect of the character , or who in the Italian governing needs to be give notice of the FBI ’s involvement . The FBI can touch the Interpol National Central Bureau in Italy , which will act as a liaison between the United States and Italian police force - enforcement agency .

Interpol ’s database facilitate jurisprudence enforcement see the grown picture of outside crime . While other agencies have their own extensive offense database , the information seldom extends beyond one nation ’s borders . Interpol can track criminals and crime trends around the cosmos . They maintain appeal of fingerprints and mug shots , list of wanted person , DNAsamples andtravel document . Their lost and steal travel papers database alone contain more than 12 million records [ Source : Interpol ] . They also canvass all this data and release selective information on crime style to the member countries .

A unafraid worldwide communications web permit Interpol federal agent and member res publica to contact each other at any time . Known as I-24/7 , the electronic connection offer perpetual accession to Interpol ’s databases . While the National Central Bureaus are the elemental access web site to the mesh , some member land have expanded it to key areas such asairportsand molding approach points . Member land can also access each other ’s criminal databases via the I-24/7 system [ Source : Interpol ] .

In the consequence of an international disaster , terrorist onrush or assassination , Interpol can send an incident reply team . This team can offer a range of expertise and database access code to aid with victim identification , surmise designation and the dissemination of information to other nations ' law of nature enforcement agencies [ Source : Interpol ] . And , at the request of local authorities , they can playact as a primal command and logistics surgical procedure to coordinate other police enforcement agencies involved in a lawsuit . Such teams were deployed 12 time in 2005 .

­­

Interpol’s Organization

Interpol headquarters ( called the General Secretariat ) is located in Lyons , France . It is operational around the clock , 365 years a twelvemonth . TheGeneral Assembly , made up of delegates from all the member countries , gather once each class . The assembly votes on all major Interpol decisions - resolutions are pass by a simple majority , with each phallus nation welcome a single vote . The General Assembly also elects theExecutive Committee , a 13 - member mathematical group that does administrative work . TheSecretary Generalis the pass of Interpol . appoint by the General Assembly , each Secretary General serve for five age and runs Interpol ’s day-to-day operations . The Secretary General is also in charge of implementing the decisions made by the General Assembly . As of 2007 , the current Secretary General is Ronald K. Noble , an American who formerly worked in the U.S. Department of Treasury . He is process his 2nd term as Secretary General after being re - elect in 2005 [ Source : Interpol - Governance , Interpol - General Assembly ] .

In improver to the primary General Secretariat , there are six regional place , plus the U.N. liaison office . They are settle in Argentina , El Salvador , Thailand , Côte d’Ivoire , Kenya , Zimbabwe and New York . The New York office is a especial liaison within the United Nations .

Most of Interpol ’s financial support comes from the member country themselves , with each country contributing a constituent based on its size , complete domesticated mathematical product and other factors . The 2007 Interpol budget was 44.7 million Euros ( roughly $ 61.4 million U.S. ) [ Source : Interpol ] .

Interpol History

The prescribed Interpol emblem is a Earth , which is flanked by olive wreath and a justice scale , in front of a steel , with the agency ’s initials at the top and the name Interpol along the bottom . The Interpol iris features the emblem on a white-hot circle against a light blue background with white bolts of lightning pointing toward the corners , symbolise the speed of communication theory accomplished by Interpol [ Source : Interpol ] .

Interpol can boast success in several major cases . One of the 2004 Madrid trainbomberswas name by cooperation between officials in Belgrade , Baghdad and Madrid using the I-24/7 organization [ Source : Interpol ] . In 2005 , an Interpol incident reply team obtained and diffuse fingerprints and photographs of Abu Musab Al - Zarqawi , one of the world ’s most need terrorists [ Source : Interpol ] . Interpol has worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find and recover children who have been abducted across home edge [ Source : Center for Missing and Exploited Children ] . The organization ’s efforts were especially notable following the 2004Tsunami , when incident response teams helped coordinate the many humanitarian and law - enforcement agency involved . They also recreate a major purpose in victim designation .

In a 2005 spoken language , Interpol President ( a position on the Executive Committee ) Jackie Selebi provided a prime object lesson of Interpol at piece of work :

[ origin : Interpol ]

For more data on Interpol , police agencies and related theme , fit out the links on the next page .

Lots More Information

Sources