The Interpol General Assembly meeting to be held in Delhi

The General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is meeting in Delhi for four days from October 18, 2022.

• This is the Second time since 1997 the 195-member-strong body is holding such a large conference in India.

• • Interpol was set up in 1923 and is a secure information-sharing platform that facilitates criminal investigation of police forces across the globe through the collection and dissemination of information received from various police forces.

  Functions:

  It keeps track of the movements of criminals and those under the police radar in various regions. Tips off police forces that had either sought Interpol’s assistance or which in its opinion will benefit from the particulars available with it.

  Aided by state-of-the-art databases and computer analytics, Interpol operates round the clock. Employs some of the best minds in the area of crime analysis and technology.

  It aims to promote the widest-possible mutual assistance between criminal police forces.

  Comprised of:

  The head of Interpol is the President who is elected by the General Assembly. He holds office for four years.

  The day-to-day activities are overseen by a full-time Secretary General elected by the General Assembly. Who holds office for five years.

  The General Assembly lays down the policy for execution by its Secretariat. Which has several specialized directorates for cybercrime, terrorism, drug trafficking, financial crime, environmental crime, human trafficking, etc.

  All contact of a country’s law enforcement agency with Interpol is through the highest investigating body of the land.

  The CBI assumes the role of the highest Investigation body in India with one of its senior officers heading. Its exclusive Inter-wing (the National Central Bureaus) for the collation of information and liaison with the world body.

  Significance:

  • The rising specter of transnational, cyber, and organized crime requires a globally coordinated law enforcement response. Interpol has a legacy of trust and reliability.