Global Integration and International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)
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International Journal of Social Sciences and Human Research Volume 01 Issue 01 December 2018 Page no: 20-28 Global Integration and International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim1, Mohamed Lamin Yansaneh2 1,2Department Of Political Science And International Relations, University Of Abuja, Abuja Abstract The paper investigates the nature, functions and successes of the international criminal police organization (INTERPOL) and analyzes how it affects global security. From the secondary methodology, findings show that, the organization is effective in tackling cross-border crimes and hardened criminals around the world. The paper concludes that, to keep Interpol as politically neutral as possible, its charter forbids it, at least in theory, from undertaking interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters. Its work focuses primarily on public safety and battling terrorism, crimes against humanity, environmental crime, genocide, war crimes, organized crime, piracy, illicit traffic in works of art, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, intellectual property crime and corruption. The paper recommends that, for the work of INTERPOL to be effective and efficient member Countries should be willing to update the Interpol databases and at the same time be able to check against the Interpol criminal data bases regularly, this will enable them to be able to arrest dangerous criminals on the run. Keywords: international; criminal; police; force; security; integration police, Johann Schober, became the organization’s Introduction first president. The ICPC flourished until 1938, International Criminal Police organization is when Nazi Germany annexed Austria; the ICPC’s intergovernmental organization that facilitates records were subsequently relocated to Berlin. cooperation between the criminalpolice forces of The outbreak of World War II effectively ended 190 countries. Interpol aims to promote the the ICPC’s activities. After the war the ICPC widest-possible mutual assistance between accepted an offer from the French government of criminal police forces and to establish and develop a headquarters in Paris together with a staff for the institutions likely to contribute to the prevention General Secretariat consisting of French police and suppression of internationalcrime. officials. The ICPC was thus revived, though the Headquartered in Lyon, France, it is the only loss or destruction of all its prewar records police organization that spans the entire globe. required that it be completely reorganized. In Interpol traces its history to 1914, when a 1949 the ICPC was granted consultative status by congress of international criminal police, attended the United Nations. From 1946 to 1955 its by delegates from 14 countries, was held in membership grew from 19 countries to 55. In Monaco. In 1923, following a significant increase 1956 the ICPC ratified a new constitution, under in international crime that particularly affected which it was renamed the International Criminal Austria, representatives of the criminal police Police Organization (Interpol). The organization forces of 20 countries met in Vienna and formed moved to its present headquarters in Lyon in 1989 the International Criminal Police Commission (Crank, 1994). (ICPC) that year. The ICPC’s headquarters were Interpol was initially a European organization, established in Vienna, and the head of the Vienna drawing only limited support from the United States and other non-European countries (the United States did not join the ICPC until 1938). Under the leadership of French Secretary General IJSSHR, Volume 1 Issue 1 Dec. 2018 www.ijsshr.in Page 20 Jean Népote (1963–78), Interpol became Operation increasingly effective. By the mid-1980s the Each member country maintains a National number of member countries had risen to 190, Central Bureau (NCB) staffed by national law representing the entire world’s inhabited enforcement officers. The NCB is the designated continents. contact point for the Interpol General Secretariat, In the 1970s the organization’s ability to combat regional bureaus and other member countries terrorism was impeded by Article 3 of its requiring assistance with overseas investigations constitution—which forbids “intervention or and the location and apprehension of fugitives. activities of a political, military, religious or racial This is especially important in countries which character”—and by a 1951 resolution of the have many law-enforcement agencies: this central General Assembly that defined a “political” crime bureau is a unique point of contact for foreign as that whose circumstances and underlying entities, which may not understand the complexity motives are political, even if the act itself is illegal of the law-enforcement system of the country they under criminal law. One source of these obstacles attempt to contact. For instance, the NCB for the was removed in 1984, when the General United States of America is housed at the United Assembly revised the interpretation of Article 3 to States Department of Justice (DOJ). The NCB permit Interpol to undertake antiterrorist activities will then ensure the proper transmission of in certain well-defined circumstances (Crank, information to the correct agency. And the NCB 2003). for the federal Republic of Nigeria is housed at the Force C.I.D. headquarters in Abuja. Interpol Interpol was reorganized in 2001 following the maintains a large database charting unsolved September 11 attacks on the United States. The crimes and both convicted and alleged criminals. new post of executive director for police services At any time, a member nation has access to was created to oversee several directorates, specific sections of the database and its police including those for regional and national police forces are encouraged to check information held services, specialized crimes, and operational by Interpol whenever a major crime is committed. police support. Its membership of 190 countries The rationale behind this is that drug traffickers provides finance of around US$59 million through and similar criminals have international ties, and annual contributions (Crank and Rehm 1994) (By so it is likely that crimes will extend beyond comparison, Europol receives $90 million political boundaries (Crank and Rehm, 1994). annually). The organization's headquarters are in In 2002, Interpol began maintaining a database of Lyon, France. In order to maintain as politically lost and stolen identification and travel neutral a role as possible, Interpol's constitution documents, allowing member countries to be forbids its involvement in crimes that do not alerted to the true nature of such documents when overlap several member countries, or in any presented. Passport fraud, for example, is often political, military, religious, or racial crimes. Its performed by altering a stolen passport; in work focuses primarily on public safety, response, several member countries have worked terrorism, organized crime, war crimes, illicit drug to make online queries into the stolen document production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, database part of their standard operating human trafficking, money laundering, child procedure in border control departments. As of pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, early 2006, the database contained over ten intellectual property crime and corruption. In million identification items reported lost or stolen, 2005, the Interpol General Secretariat employed a and is expected to grow more as more countries staff of 502, representing 78 member countries. join the list of those reporting into the database Women comprised 42 percent of the staff. The (Crank and Rehm 1994). Interpol public website received an average of 2.2 A member nation's police force can contact one or million page visits every month. Interpol's red more member nations by sending a message notices that year led to the arrests of 3,500 people relayed through Interpol offices. (Crank and Langworthy, 1992). Member States and Sub-bureaus IJSSHR, Volume 1 Issue 1 Dec. 2018 www.ijsshr.in Page 21 Sub-bureaus shown in italics(Crank and Langworthy, 1996): Afghanistan Cyprus Latvia Russia Albania Czech Republic Lebanon Rwanda Algeria Denmark Lesotho St. Kitts and Nevis American Samoa Djibouti Dominica Liberia St. Lucia Andorra Dominican Republic Libya St. Vincent and the Angola East Timor Liechtenstein Grenadines São Tomé Anguilla Ecuador Lithuania and Príncipe Antigua and Barbuda Egypt Luxembourg Saudi Arabia Argentina El Salvador Equatorial Macau San Marino Armenia Guinea Madagascar Senegal Aruba Eritrea Malawi Serbia Australia Estonia Malaysia Seychelles Austria Ethiopia Maldives Sierra Leone Azerbaijan Fiji Mali Singapore Bahamas Finland Malta Slovakia Bahrain FYR Macedonia Marshall Islands Slovenia Bangladesh France Mauritania Somalia Barbados Gabon Mauritius South Africa Belarus Gambia Mexico Moldova Spain Belgium Georgia Monaco Mongolia Sri Lanka Belize Germany Montenegro Sudan Benin Ghana Montserrat Suriname Bermuda Gibraltar Morocco Swaziland Bhutan Greece Mozambique Sweden Bolivia Grenada Myanmar Switzerland Bosnia and Guatemala Namibia Nauru Syria Herzegovina Guinea Nepal Tajikistan Botswana Guinea-Bissau Netherlands Tanzania Brazil Guyana Antilles Thailand British Virgin Islands Haiti New Zealand Togo Brunei Honduras