ICPO-INTERPOL (INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION)

What is Interpol?
ICPO-INTERPOL was set up in 1923 for global enhancing and facilitating cross-border criminal police cooperation Today, it is the second largest international organization after the United Nations, with 186 member countries spread over five continents.

As technological developments shrink the world into a global village and know no national boundaries, so criminals are fast to exploit technology. With the escalation of serious transnational crime, the need for a global police cooperation response has never been more acute.

Where does the name 'Interpol' come from?
'Interpol', once the telegraphic address, was officially incorporated into the Organization's new name adopted in 1956: International Criminal Police Organization-Interpol (abbreviated to ICPO-Interpol). 'Interpol has since become a household name throughout the world.

What does Interpol do?
Interpol's mission is to promote international police cooperation i.e. to help officers from different police forces, countries, languages and cultures to cooperate with one another and work together to solve crime. Because of the unbiased role Interpol must play at international level, its constitution does not allow it to engage in any activity of a political, military, religious, or racial character.

Interpol deals only with international crime and not with national crime i.e. crimes that overlap one or several member countries. It does not deal with crimes which are planned and committed in just one country nor with the ensuing investigation for the perpetrators if it is contained in the same country. Interpol's work covers many specialized areas but its current work is largely related to public safety and terrorism, organized crime, illicit drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, trafficking in human beings, money laundering, financial and high tech crime and corruption.

Interpol works round the clock in four official languages - English, French, Spanish and Arabic. It receives, stores, analyses and circulates criminal intelligence with its member countries. The General Secretariat plays a key role in information exchange by:
	Issuing international 'wanted' notices for fugitives or other notices for missing persons or unidentified bodies;
	Distributing international bulletins, publications and circulars such as weekly intelligence messages on drugs and regular updates on new specimen or fraudulent bank notes in circulation;
	Convening international conferences and symposia which bring police chiefs and experts together to develop and exchange practices for better cooperation;
	Offering forensic services (fingerprints, DNA, disaster victim identification, counterfeit currency and travel documents);
	Offering the services of its analysts who are uniquely placed to recognize and detect patterns and criminal trends from a global perspective.
	Encouraging member countries to use the Automated Search Facility (ASF) which allows 24-hour remote interrogation of the information collected from around the globe and stored in its databases.

National Central Bureau (NCB)
Every member country has an Interpol office called a National Central Bureau / NCB which is staffed by its own police. This bureau is the single point of contact for foreign governments requiring assistance with overseas investigations and adequate contact information when confronted with different police structures in other countries. America, for example, has thousands of law enforcement agencies at the federal, state and local level. The U.S. NCB is therefore the indispensable contact point for any foreign police authority needing help with an international case.

The NCB is the operational body of Interpol. Contrary to popular belief, Interpol officers do not travel around the world investigating cases in different countries. Each member country employs its own officers to operate on its own territory and in accordance with its own national law. Each member countries can also send its officers to serve a tour of duty at the Organization's Headquarters in Lyon, France.

Who pays for Interpol?
Interpol is financed by its 186 member countries whose governments pay annual contributions. These are calculated on a sliding scale according to their gross national product (GNP). Interpol is taking o a multi billion-dollar crime problem with an annual budget of approximately approx. 41 million Euros. Efficiency requires Interpol to use its limited resources, technology and member countries support to the very best advantage.

How is Interpol governed?
The General Assembly, Interpol's supreme governing body, meets once a year and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy. It is composed of delegates appointed by the governments of the member countries. Each member country is represented by one vote.

The Executive Committee supervises the execution of the decisions of the General Assembly and the work of the Secretary General. It has thirteen members made up of the President (who chairs the committee), three Vice-Presidents and nine delegates. The members are elected by the General Assembly and should represent different countries. The President and the Vice Presidents must belong to different countries.

The Secretary General is the Organization's chief executive and senior full time official. He is nominated by the Executive Committee and elected by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly to serve a five-year term of office. He is responsible for managing the General Secretariat where the day to day work of international police cooperation is carried out. He is also in charge of overseeing the implementation of any decisions taken by the General Assembly and Executive Committee.

Nepal in Interpol: Nepal became the 100th member of ICPO-Interpol in 1967. Since then, Nepal has been regularly attending the General Assembly's, Asian Regional Conferences and other important meetings / conferences. The National Central Bureau or Interpol Section of Nepal is situated within the premises of the Police Headquarters, Naxal, and Kathmandu. The Inspector General of Police heads the National Central Bureau, which locally functions under the Crime Investigation Department (CID). A team of officers run the day to day work, with a Superintendent as the office in charge. With the availability of the communication facilities as I-24/7, FAX, ISTD, STD, Internet etc., the NCB is quite well organized to strengthen international police cooperation.