INTERPOL crime data has always yielded a number of advantages over other data sources and has been the data source most often used by crime researchers. Some of these advantages, however, are also disadvantages. It is the oldest series of such data, published biannually from 1950 and then annually since 1993. As of 2000, it was published free of charge on INTERPOL's Web site in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. This transparency has ironically contributed to its demise. The politicization of crime has resulted in the unwillingness of countries to expose their crime levels "dirty laundry." In addition, although participation in INTERPOL's crime statistics program has been voluntary, INTERPOL is one of the largest intergovernmental agencies in the world; however, the proportion of member states responding to crime data requests has been declining since 1985. Nevertheless, it has often provided researchers with data from more countries than any other source; and the countries represented have reflected various levels of socioeconomic development. Minimal change has occurred in the report series, which has drawn criticism that definitional and reporting problems at the national level are deceptively masked. The future requires leadership in encouraging intergovernmental organizations to continue collecting cross-national crime data while encouraging one's own nation to contribute national data to international datasets. Such data should include victimization and self-report surveys as well as official crime data. The United Nations is a logical focus for leadership in this area. 2 notes and 98 references