The Need of better global police to counter emergent challenges

The General Assembly of Interpol to be organized by India this year has drawn attention regarding its Functioning and roles. As, Interpol and cross-national law enforcement agencies must endeavor to build a people-centric ecosystem to meet evolving challenges.

90th General Assembly of Interpol:

• Rising criminality has caused law enforcement to come under strain.
• It is against this backdrop that the 90th General Assembly of Interpol will be hosted by India this month.
• 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.

About Interpol:

• It was set up in 1923, as 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.
• It is headquartered in Lyon, France.
• It keeps track of the movements of criminals and those under the police radar in various regions and tips off police forces that had either sought Interpol’s assistance or which in its opinion will benefit from the particulars available with it.
• It aims to promote the widest-possible mutual assistance between criminal police forces.

India and the Interpol:

• India, as one of the oldest and strongest members of Interpol, has been involved in productive engagements over the years.
• Several operations have been undertaken by the CBI with Interpol.

Working of Interpol:

• Interpol uses 19 databases and tools for issuing alerts and sharing information about criminals and their modus operandi.
• It has a huge repository of fingerprints, DNA profiles, facial recognition kits, cyber-enabled financial crimes, and property crimes, among others.
• It has undertaken various operations in different countries relating to the trafficking of women and children, cybercrimes, online piracy, spurious pharmaceuticals, narcotics smuggling, illegal gun trade, missing persons, and stolen and lost travel documents.

Interpol’s global security architecture is used in:

• Providing information about crime and criminals in the digital space
• Preventing abuse of cyberspace
• Stalling hackers on the dark web

Interpol databases populated by India relate to:

• Interpol Criminal Information System
• Stolen and lost travel documents
• Works of art and international child sexual exploitation.

Areas of concern addressed by Interpol:

• Human trafficking
• Financial crimes by the high and mighty
• Safe haven provided to fugitives accused of terrorism
• Money laundering
• The proliferation of illicit trade based on counterfeiting and smuggling
• Transnational organized crime

Interpol Vs. Other Policing Organisations

• It is not meant for dispute resolution.
• It is designed to assist the police forces of member nations.
• Interpol is neither an investigative agency like the CBI nor a front-line police force.
• It is mandated to share information and provide back-end technical assistance to law enforcement agencies.
• Interpol's action against notorious fugitives is consequential upon commensurate action from member nations where the fugitives might be seeking shelter.
• Interpol cannot act on its own.
• The desired legal course of action depends on bilateral arrangements like mutual legal assistance treaties.

Suggestive Measures:

• Interpol needs to calibrate to counter emergent challenges
• Need for public-spirited efficient policing
• Build, maintain and operate a people-centric ecosystem