The chapter first notes the political and professional conditions for the possibility of transnational policing. These include states' political concerns about common crime problems whose operations and methods extend beyond national borders, as well as the professional efficiency and effectiveness of transnational police cooperation in countering transnational crime. A section of the chapter that focuses on the growth of transnational policing addresses origins and consolidation and the formation of the European Union, which has institutionalized cooperative mechanisms for enhancing the quality of life of member states. Other recent patterns that have fueled the development of transnational policing are the creation of the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) after World War I, the establishment of Interpol, and the late-century surge in North American international activities. In focusing on developments in the European Union (EU), the chapter argues that the EU is developing a "first order" policing power that, although historically derived from the member states, increasingly has an independent momentum and an enforcement authority in its own right. Much of the need for enforcement powers to reside within the EU has evolved from the challenge of various crime-related problems associated with the development of cooperative mechanisms, such as counterfeiting of the euro currency. The final section of the chapter examines three trends in the configuration of transnational policing, followed by conclusions about future prospects. Two of the trends, the rise of the EU as an autonomous force and the development of the United States, draw upon the arguments and analysis presented earlier in the chapter. The third trend is the emergence of transnational private policing. This trend is most evident in the corporate security guards of transnational companies, in the involvement of private agents in matters of state security in international affairs, and in the employment of specialized private security guards to contain immigrants in secure zones while they await the processing of their cases. The future of transnational policing must deal with issues of accountability when policing activity occurs in areas beyond the pale of individual state-based structures of accountability and the implementation of the parameters for democratic policing. 52 references