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Policing the World: Interpol and the Politics of International Police Cooperation

NCJ Number
138786
Author(s)
M Anderson
Date Published
1989
Length
221 pages
Annotation
International police cooperation is discussed in terms of the development and recent activities of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), as well as other contemporary forms of police cooperation across national boundaries.
Abstract
The relationship between police cooperation and evolving social and political conditions is outlined, with emphasis on the impact of the increasing movement of people and goods across national boundaries and of changes in public attitudes toward specific crimes. The authors describe the evolution of Interpol from an informal association of police forces to a full-fledged international organization without an international treaty. The pressures on national governments and police agencies resulting from drug trafficking and terrorism are also detailed, with emphasis on the efforts to develop new responses to these problems. The analysis also considers the roles of both multilateral and bilateral relations among countries and various models of international police cooperation. The analysis concludes with a discussion of the pressures for greater international cooperation in law enforcement; the factors limiting it; and issues of organization, supervision, and control.