International police partnership to combat international crime W
ith the one hundred year anniversary of INTERPOL in 2014
and a Europol international cybercrime taskforce launched in September, we examine the different agencies involved in international policing and how this close collaboration is getting results.
As technological advances bring ever more international crime, the need for a global partnership of policing is increasingly critical. Already, there is significant collaboration between police forces across the world, with the UK police forces and law enforcement agencies playing key roles. These collaborative practices are developing at a pace, in particular in tackling the threat from cyber crime head on.
“The response required to international crime is complex. Investigations can be multi- jurisdictional, crossing the borders of a number of law enforcement agencies and involving an intricate set of relationships. Each country involved has varying capabilities, a different Criminal Justice system and diverse cultures”, explains Andy Archibald, Deputy Director of the National Cyber Crime Unit from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
In the UK, the NCA facilitates the cooperation between the UK and international law enforcement agencies, including INTERPOL and Europol. There are NCA seconded staff in both these organisations, providing a direct link with UK police.
16 © CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – AUTUMN 2014 INTERPOL – 100 years old
Despite fictional references to INTERPOL in the Jason Bourne trilogy and Ian Fleming’s James Bond, it has no secret agents travelling undercover. The truth is more pragmatic and probably more effective.
A crucial component of the INTERPOL offering is its impressive database capability, holding details, from police forces around the world, on criminals, such as photos, fingerprints and DNA profiles and criminal activities, including terrorism and child sexual abuse and stolen items, such as works of art.
In one recent case, police in Monaco found fingerprints at a crime scene, ran a check on INTERPOL’s databases, discovered the identity of the criminal and that he was wanted in Serbia and another five European countries.
Devised at the first international Criminal Police Congress in 1914, then officially created in 1923, INTERPOL is celebrating 100 years supporting international law enforcement. It is the largest police organisation in the world, with 190 member countries and assists even where diplomatic relations do not exist.
The INTERPOL HQ is located in Lyon, France and there are seven regional offices and a National Central Bureau in each member country. The UK bureau is housed within the Manchester office of the NCA.
In the event of a major international incident, INTERPOL runs a 24-hour Command and Co-
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ordination Centre which can assist. Following the crash of Malaysia Airline flight MH17, INTERPOL teams were deployed to the Netherlands, as part of international efforts to identify all 298 victims, using protocols developed by INTERPOL for these situations.
A key aspect of its information sharing and alert system is INTERPOL Notices. These are sent to police forces worldwide. Notices come in eight different colours for different warnings – for example, Red Notices are international wanted persons alerts, Yellow Notices are used to help locate missing people, and Orange Notices warn of an immediate danger to the public.
In a recent case, where a five year old boy with a brain tumour, Ashya King, was taken from Southampton General Hospital, IINTERPOL issued a Yellow Notice to all 190 of its member countries.
Europol
The law enforcement agency for the European Union, Europol became operational in 1999, supporting the EU Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. There have been many policy changes since then, but the overall aim remains the same, to fight international crime, including terrorism.
With its HQ in The Hague, Netherlands, Europol works in partnership with 28 EU Member States and other non-member states, including Australia, Canada, USA and Norway.
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