Interpol

This article is about an international crime policing organization. For other uses, see Interpol (disambiguation).

International Criminal Police Organization
  • Arabic:منظمة الشرطة الجنائية الدولية
    French:Organisation internationale de police criminelle
    Spanish:Organización Internacional de Policía Criminal
Common nameInterpol
AbbreviationICPO-INTERPOL
MottoConnecting police for a safer world
Agency overview
Formed7 September 1923; 101 years ago (1923-09-07)
Preceding agencies
  • First International Criminal Police Congress (1914)
  • International Police Conference (1922)
  • International Criminal Police Commission (1923)
Employees1,050 (2019)
Annual budget€176 million (2023)
Jurisdictional structure
International agency
Countries196 member states
Governing bodyGeneral Assembly
Constituting instrument
  • ICPO-INTERPOL Constitution and General Regulations[1][2]
Operational structure
HeadquartersLyon, France
Multinational agency
Nationalities of personnel130 (2024)
Agency executives
Facilities
National Central Bureaus196
Website
interpol.int Edit this at Wikidata
Languages (4)

The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol[3] (UK: /ˈɪntərpɒl/ IN-tər-pol, US: /-poʊl/ -⁠pohl;[4] stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. It is the world's largest international police organization. It is headquartered in Lyon, France, with seven regional bureaus worldwide, and a National Central Bureau in all 196 member states.[5]

The organization today known as Interpol was founded on 7 September 1923 at the close of a five-day International Police Congress in Vienna as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC);[6] it adopted many of its current duties throughout the 1930s. After coming under Nazi control in 1938,[7] the agency had its headquarters in the same building as the Gestapo.[8] It was effectively stagnant until the end of World War II.[7] In 1956, the ICPC adopted a new constitution and the name Interpol, derived from its telegraphic address used since 1946.[3]

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.[9] 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 ($155 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 Valdecy Urquiza, the former Vice President of Interpol for the Americas.[10]

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.[11] The agency operates in four languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Constitution2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "General Regulations of the International Criminal Police Organization" (PDF). Interpol, Office of Legal Affairs. 1956. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Who we are | Name and logo". INTERPOL. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  4. ^ Wells, John (2007) [2000]. Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (New / Paperback (9th impression) ed.). Harlow: Pearson Longman. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-582-36467-7. Retrieved 30 January 2024 – via Internet Archive Book Reader.
  5. ^ a b "General Secretariat". www.interpol.int. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  6. ^ Mathieu Deflem, Policing World Society: Historical Foundations of International Police Cooperation (Oxford University Press, 2004) p. 125
  7. ^ a b "7. September 1923 – Interpol wird gegründet" [September 7, 1923 - Interpol is founded]. Westdeutscher Rundfunk (in German). 7 September 2013. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  8. ^ Posner, Gerald (6 March 1990). "Opinion | Interpol's Nazi Affiliations Continued After War". The New York Times. p. A-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  9. ^ Sweet O.C., David (September 2010). "INTERPOL DVI best-practice standards—An overview". Forensic Science International. 201 (1–3): 18–21. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.02.031. PMID 20303223. ProQuest 1034458337.
  10. ^ "INTERPOL Executive Committee selects Brazil's Valdecy Urquiza as its candidate for next Secretary General". interpol.int. 25 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Neutrality (Article 3 of the Constitution)". INTERPOL. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.