Interpol: Who are they?

-

Interpol stands for International Criminal Police Organisation and was formed in 1923. We often hear about this organisation when there is an international manhunt for a person or persons suspected of committing serious crimes such as murder, war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, or drug trafficking. Last year, for example, an Interpol arrest warrant was issued for Samantha Lewthwale, in connection with the Kenya Mall bombing. Any Interpol member country is obliged to arrest this suspect if found within their territory. We tend to hear a lot about Interpol in cases like this but who exactly are the Interpol.

Many of us may have the assumption that Interpol is a force similar to the police or military. It has large stations similar to police stations or military barracks scattered across the world for dealing with criminal cases. Unfortunately none of these assumptions is true. Although the organisation has its headquarters in Lyon, France, Interpol has no separate offices like police stations or military barracks where officers can deal with only Interpol related criminal cases. Neither do Interpol members wear special uniforms distinguishing them from other state agents. In fact, Interpol members are not solely dedicated to pursuing Interpol causes. They may also be responsible for tackling local and national crimes within the state.

The police and other state security agents play a crucial role within the Interpol system. If they suspect the person they have in custody may have committed a crime somewhere, the police for example will search the Interpol database. The suspect will be detained further if it turns out that he or she has committed crime in another country. This ensures that the fugitive does not slip through the net and commit further crimes.

Looking at it from a broader perspective, Interpol simply consists of large information database submitted and accessed by member countries. Any member country can submit information such as an international arrest warrant for a fugitive to the system. Other member countries can access this information and help apprehend the crime suspect. Interpol members, however, are barred from submitting certain types of crime including political crimes, military crimes, religious crimes and racial crimes to Interpol.

A lesser version of the Interpol is the Europol. The Europol stands for European Police. Like the Interpol it is an information sharing database containing information about criminals and crime suspects. Unlike the Interpol, however, it operates only within the European countries. Thus, a non-European country cannot be obliged to honour a Europol arrest warrant for a criminal or crime suspect.

Returning to our initial question, Interpol consists largely of information database shared by member countries. Interpol members do not operate solely on their own but in collaboration with other state agents. Therefore, the organisation’s policies are indirectly shaped by member states.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spanish Dog Fouling Law: Are Spanish Politicians Pursuing The Wrong Agenda?

-
Image
 Dog fouling Spain has some of the strictest laws regarding pets possession in Europe. One of its laws governing animal possession in Spain, for example, bans having exotic creatures as pets and requires dog, cat and ferret owners to declare their animals to the authority within three months of bringing them into the country. Until recently, however, Spain has no law nor sanction for failure to clean up after dog fouling in public places. It was up to dog owners whether to clean up such mess. This has now changed following the introduction of the dog fouling law. The new law states that the fine for any person failing to clean up after his or her dog fouling in a public place such as a park or kids play ground should be 1500 euros. The rationale for this legislation is to deter dog owners from leaving their dogs messing up public places such as parks. Regular visitors to parks can testify how the sight of such dog foul can be an eyesore. However, asking dog owners wh
Read more

Social Media Networks: Calls For Tighter Regulations

-
One of the most fascinating technological inventions of the twenty first century is the development of social media networks such as YouTube, Twitter, and Face book. These social media networks make it possible for people to meet new people and make friends, locate old friends and family members, or to form a relationship that can result in marriage. They also provide a platform in the form of advertising for conducting businesses. Despite these benefits provided by the social media networks certain things can go awfully wrong on the networks. The most recent example of how the social media network can be turned into a weapon of criminality is the case last week involving threatening rape and murder messages sent to a number of British women on Twitter. Feminists are attempting to use this incident to rally for support for tighter regulations on activities being conducted within social media networks. Is it possible to control activities within these networks? Having legislat
Read more

Marketing Tricks: How Many Times Have You Fallen Victim?

-
Image
 Fat free food Whereas business owners call them marketing strategies, none business owners regard them as marketing tricks. Regardless of what you like to call them, businesses cannot survive without marketing tricks. Marketing tricks are the flywheel that keeps businesses engine running. We tend not to be concerned about them because of our perception that we are familiar with them and can avoid them. However, a careful look at the marketing tricks used by businesses will reveal that many of us have fallen victims of them in the past and can still fall victim of the malpractice in future. Let us consider two of these popular tricks used in supermarkets. The first marketing trick used by retailers is relating to the slogan “75% reduced fat”. Items labelled 75% reduced fat are often displayed on supermarket shelves. Some of us who are conscious of our health tend to go for them to avoid consuming excess fat. Excess fat in the body is considered to be a risk factor for
Read more