Police Co-operation in Europe

• NCJ Number: 77085
• Journal: International Criminal Police Review Issue: 343 Dated: (December 1980) Pages: 282-289
• Author(s): A Bossard
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: France
• Note: Talk given during the Third French Seminar on Criminal Justice held in Nice (France) from 2nd to 4th October, 1980

Annotation

Current characteristics and trends of crime in Europe are described and the principles and methods the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has adopted for international police cooperation are discussed.

Abstract

Europe's crime level is currently very high. Individual countries can no longer combat crime separately, as crime is becoming increasingly international in character. The only practical solution at present is to set up machinery for international cooperation while maintaining respect for each country's sovereignty. Interpol provides such a framework for international law enforcement cooperation. In each member country, the appropriate government authority appoints a department to handle all contacts with foreign countries. This department is known as the country's Interpol National Central Bureau. Each National Central Bureau receives all the requests for information from abroad formulated by the various law enforcement agencies in its country and then forwards these requests to the countries concerned. The national central bureaus provide the means for bilateral exchanges between countries and also correspond with Interpol's General Secretariat, which acts as a central information service. In addition to facilitating the exchange of information between countries, the central information system produces a number of documents designed to circulate data likely to assist investigations. Interpol also conducts research on a number of more general legal, criminological, and practical subjects of particular concern to the police. With one exception, all the European national central bureaus have joined the Interpol telecommunications network. This network uses the most modern techniques and, in the majority of countries, radiotype communications have replaced the Morse system still in use on other continents. It is also the European national central bureaus that organize most visits of police officers from one country to another to assist their counterparts in investigations involving both countries. Currently, the two main problems that must be solved to permit better cooperation are related to the coordination of action at national levels and the standardization of legislation.