Ron-ron R.

Barcelo 11/16/22
Crim block b
Comparative Models in policing

Learning activity 1.
INTERPOL
International Criminal Police Organization
is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime
control. Headquartered in Lyon, France, it is the world's largest international police
organization, with seven regional bureaus worldwide and a National Central Bureau in all 195
member states.
Interpol was conceived during the first International Criminal Police Congress in 1914, which
brought officials from 24 countries to discuss cooperation in law enforcement. It was founded
on September 7, 1923 at the close of the five-day 1923 Congress session in Vienna as the
International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) it adopted many of its current duties
throughout the 1930s. After coming under Nazi control in 1938, the agency had its
headquarters in the same building as the Gestapo. It was effectively moribund until the end of
World War II. In 1956, the ICPC adopted a new constitution and the name Interpol, derived
from its telegraphic address used since 1946.
Interpol provides investigative support, expertise and training to law enforcement worldwide,
focusing on three major areas of transnational crime: terrorism, cybercrime and organized
crime. Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against
humanity, child pornography, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, intellectual
property infringement, as well as white-collar crime. The agency also facilitates cooperation
among national law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications
networks. Contrary to popular belief, Interpol is itself not a law enforcement agency.
Interpol has an annual budget of €142 million, most of which comes from annual contributions
by member police forces in 181 countries. It is governed by a General Assembly composed of all
member countries, which elects the executive committee and the President (currently Ahmed
Naser Al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates) to supervise and implement Interpol's policies and
administration. Day-to-day operations are carried out by the General Secretariat, comprising
around 1,000 personnel from over 100 countries, including both police and civilians. The
Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General, currently Jürgen Stock, the former deputy head of
Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office.
Pursuant to its charter, Interpol seeks to remain politically neutral in fulfilling its mandate, and
is thus barred from interventions or activities that are political, military, religious, or racial in
nature and from involving itself in disputes over such matters. The agency operates in four
languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

HISTORY

Until the 19th century, cooperation among police in different national and political
jurisdictions was organized largely on an ad hoc basis, focused on a specific goal or criminal
enterprise. The earliest attempt at a formal, permanent framework for international police
coordination was the Police Union of German States, formed in 1851 to bring together police
from various German-speaking states. Its activities were centered mostly on political dissidents
and criminals. A similar plan was launched by Italy in the 1898 Anti-Anarchist Conference of
Rome, which brought delegates from 21 European countries to create a formal structure for
addressing the international anarchist movement. Neither the conference nor its follow up
meeting in St. Petersburg in 1904 yielded results.

Interpol headquarters in the 6th arrondissement of Lyon, France

The early 20th century saw several more efforts to formalize international police cooperation,
as growing international travel and commerce facilitated transnational criminal enterprises and
fugitives of the law. The earliest was the International Criminal Police Congress hosted by
Monaco in 1914, which brought police and legal officials from two dozen countries to discuss
international cooperation in investigating crimes, sharing investigative techniques, and
extradition procedures. The Monaco Congress laid out twelve principles and priorities that
would eventually become foundational to Interpol, including providing direct contact between
police in different nations; creating an international standard for forensics and data collection;
and facilitating the efficient processing of extradition requests. The idea of an international
police organization remained dormant due to the First World War. The United States attempted
to lead a similar effort in 1922 through the International Police Conference in New York City,
but it failed to attract international attention.

INTERPOL MEMBER COUNTRIES

has 195 member countries, making us the world's largest police organization. They work
together and with the General Secretariat to share data related to police investigations.

Each country hosts an INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), which links national police
with our global network.

Countries come together at our annual General Assembly to decide policy, working methods,
finances and activities. In addition, heads of NCB meet annually at a conference to share
experiences.

INTERPOL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

INTERPOL FUNCTIONS
Interpol aims to promote the widest-possible mutual assistance between criminal police
forces and to establish and develop institutions likely to contribute to the prevention and
suppression of international crime. Headquartered in Lyon, France, it is the only police
organization that spans the entire globe. Interpol.

How Interpol Is Used as an Instrument of Repression

Interpol, an international system for exchanging information on criminals, allegedly
operates on the basis of neutrality. But authoritarian governments have increasingly used the
Organization’s wanted list as an instrument of repression.
Ukraine regularly detains foreign citizens who appear on the Interpol wanted list. Although
these actions are seemingly in line with the country’s international obligations, the detainees
are often dissidents who have fled political persecution in their post-Soviet homelands.
In the last three months, the Ukrainian authorities have arrested three journalists on Interpol
warrants: opposition journalists Narzullo Okhunjonov from Uzbekistan, Fikret Huseynli from
Azerbaijan and Zhanara Akhmet from Kazakhstan. All fled their native countries and sought
political asylum abroad, only to be detained and threatened with extradition.
But their situations are not unique. Hromadske breaks down how some countries use Interpol
as a tool for combatting dissent.

How Does Interpol Work?

The International Criminal Police Organization known as Interpol was established in 1923 to
combat ordinary crimes. Today, it includes 192 member countries who are required to share
data on the possible movements of criminals across state borders.
According to Article 3 of Interpol’s Constitution, the organization strictly forbids undertaking
“any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.” However, in
practice, the situation is somewhat different.
According to Lyudmila Kozlovskaya, president of the Open Dialogue human rights foundation,
authoritarian regimes have increased the number of requests for Interpol searches. “If we look
at the general use of Interpol mechanisms, in 2005-2006, there were around 1000 requests
overall. But in 2015, these numbers went up to 13 thousand,” she tells Hromadske.
The Role of INTERPOL in Transnational Crime; Exploring the Operations of the INTERPOL
On the 9th of June, 2020, the social media was awash with unconfirmed reports of the
arrest of a Nigerian socialite popularly known as “Ray Hushpuppi”, supposedly by the
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
in Dubai, UAE, supposedly over allegations of fraud.
A myriad of reactions, especially amongst various social media users, have trailed this
unconfirmed news – many of which showcase the widespread misunderstanding and
misconception of the roles and workings of the INTERPOL. This article provides insight into the
principles guiding the operations of the INTERPOL in tackling transnational crimes – effectively
allaying the myths that the general public panders to.
Crime is the bane of any sane society; its very essence undermining societal peace and
security, economic development, stability and productivity amongst others. As a result of the
development of international relations, technological advancement, trade liberalization,
globalization of the economy, increased numbers and heterogeneity of immigrants, many
crimes committed in a particular jurisdiction will have (and have had) reverberating effects
across national borders and jurisdictions. This consideration has birthed, as it were, a
phenomenon referred to as ‘Transnational Crimes’.
Transnational Crimes are violations of law that involve more than one country in their
planning, execution, or impact. Transnational Crimes can be group into three broad categories
involving provision of illicit goods (drug trafficking, trafficking in stolen property, weapons
trafficking, and counterfeiting), illicit services (commercial sex and human trafficking), and
infiltration of business and government (fraud, racketeering, money laundering, corruption)
affecting multiple countries. It is noteworthy, however, that Transnational Crimes are distinct
from ‘International Crimes’ which are regarded as the most serious crimes of concern to the
international community as a whole, namely: Genocide, Crimes against humanity, War Crimes
and Crime of Aggression. Transnational Crimes may also be crimes of Customary International
law or International Crimes when committed in certain circumstances. For instance, they may,
in certain situations, also constitute crimes against humanity.
Due to language, cultural, and bureaucratic differences across nationalities, which often
constitute an impediment to effectively tackling Transnational Crimes, the International
Criminal Police Organization (hereinafter called INTERPOL) was established to help the police
forces in different countries cooperate by providing them with shared databases and
connection channels. It was also created to facilitate worldwide police cooperation and,
consequently, improved crime control. With its headquarters in Lyon, France, and a National
Central Bureau in all 194 members states, INTERPOL is the world’s largest police organization.
INTERPOL, against popular notion, is not a supranational law enforcement agency and has no
agents with arresting powers. It does not have the power to override the authority of the police
and judicial system of its member states, as this is diametrically opposed to the principle of
state sovereignty – a non-negotiable ‘national treasure’ no state may be willing to compromise.
Rather, INTERPOL respects the sovereignty of its members, and functions as an unobtrusive
network of criminal law enforcement agencies whose resources are pooled from different
countries.

THE ROLE OF INTERPOL IN TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

The role of the INTERPOL is defined by the general provisions of its constitution. Article
2 states that its role is:
 To ensure and promote the widest possible mutual assistance between all criminal
police authorities, within the limits of the laws existing in the different countries, and in
the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
 To establish and develop all institutions likely to contribute effectively to the prevention
and suppression of ordinary law crime.
One of its major roles is to enable the circulation of information about persons in form of ‘Red
Notices’. One of the primary purposes of a Red Notice is for INTERPOL member countries to
assist each other in finding Red Notice subjects, and extraditing them to the countries who seek
to prosecute or sentence them. A Red Notice is an electronic alert published by INTERPOL at
the request of a National Central Bureau (NCB – a division of the police in a given country which
exchanges information with INTERPOL). It is stored in INTERPOL’s database and can be seen by
police and immigration authorities all over the world. A Red Notice contains information
concerning the ‘wanted’ person: including their name, date of birth, nationality, and a
photograph. It also includes a description of the charge for which the person is ‘wanted’, and a
description of the acts which they are alleged to have committed. As gleaned from Article 82 of
INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data, the purpose of a Red Notice is to aid extradition.
One question, however, readily comes to mind, viz. “what happens if there is no existing
extradition treaty between a requesting country and an INTERPOL member country”? If a Red
Notice subject appears in an INTERPOL member country that has no extradition treaty with the
requesting country, it is unlikely that extradition will occur. However, where diplomatic
relations exist between both countries, there is the possibility that a Red Notice subject could
be transferred for prosecution via diplomatic channels, in spite of the absence of a treaty. Also,
through mutual legal assistance, states can request and obtain evidence for criminal
investigations and prosecution even in the absence of a treaty.
INTERPOL, at the request of a member country, through the issuance of a Blue Notice by its
Secretariat General, can also have a person’s identity verified, obtain particulars about a
pertinent criminal records, locate a missing or wanted person for violation of ordinary criminal
law – their extradition may also be requested. Green Notices are issued by the Secretariat
General at an INTERPOL member country’s request to give law enforcement agencies in
member countries information about persons who have committed or are likely to commit
crimes affecting several countries (International Traveling Criminals).
The INTERPOL has played a vital role in securing global police communications services through
a recently designed and implemented state-of-the-art global communications system for the
law enforcement community which is called “I-24/7”. This new communication tool – to which
all member countries are already connected – allows for the transmission of information about
suspected individuals and crimes to INTERPOL’s member countries requiring assistance with
ongoing international investigations in a secure channel in real time.
INTERPOL also enhances the capacity of member countries to effectively combat serious
transnational crime and terrorism, through the provision of (a) focused police training
initiatives and of (b) on-demand advice, guidance and support in building dedicated crime-
fighting components with national police forces. The latter includes the sharing of knowledge,
skills and best practices in policing through INTERPOL channels and the establishment of global
standards on how to combat specific forms of crimes.
Flowing from the above, the world only gets smaller; for fugitives there are no borders.
International Financial Crime expert, Veit Buetterlein, remarked that “… the international
community needs to overcome a state where criminal act internationally, while prosecutors
stop at borders”. The INTERPOL serves as the response to this shortcoming by providing
investigative support, delivering training, bringing experts together and encouraging sharing of
best practice among member states.
V.ASSESSMENT

Reflection paper:
Transnational Crimes are violations of law that involve more than one country in their planning,
execution, or impact. Transnational Crimes can be group into three broad categories involving
provision of illicit goods (drug trafficking, trafficking in stolen property, weapons trafficking, and
counterfeiting), illicit services (commercial sex and human trafficking), and infiltration of
business and government (fraud, racketeering, money laundering, corruption) affecting
multiple countries. It is noteworthy, however, that Transnational Crimes are distinct from
‘International Crimes’ which are regarded as the most serious crimes of concern to the
international community as a whole, namely: Genocide, Crimes against humanity, War Crimes
and Crime of Aggression
These police organizations help impact our country by helping prevent and punish the criminals
that are in the area of our country they help our local police to stop transnational crimes and
syndicates in making crimes inside the Philippines. They also involve themselves in crimes that
are not only happening in one country but globally executed crimes such as drug trafficking or
human trafficking and other crime syndicate that involves international crime that are
happening globally, INTERPOL helps the local public safety officers by joining forces with the
local officers of law to be more efficient and have more information about the criminals that
they are pursuing and to give knowledge and awareness to the country on how to stop the said
criminal activities. Transnational crimes Transnational crimes are crimes that have actual or
potential effect across national borders and crimes that are intrastate but offend fundamental
values of the international community. The term is commonly used in the law enforcement and
academic communities. Transnational organized crime (TOC) refers specifically to transnational
crime carried out by crime organizations it is a globally organized crime which makes them very
hard to catch by local law enforcers that is why it is very important to have internationally wide
police like INTERPOL EUROPOL and ASEANAPOL to help countries which has this sort of
problems to help them and eradicate the criminals that are in the country like in Philippines.