NCJ Number
230949
Date Published
2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the origins and development of two international police cooperation organizations (IPCOs), Interpol and Europol, in order to better understand what prevents states and their national law enforcement agencies from benefitting from the IPCO they formed.
Abstract
Interpol was established in the early 1900s in order to facilitate the collaboration of national police services around the world. Europol began full operations in 1998 in order to ensure the security of European member states; however, the widely differing resources and often incompatible national legal and procedural systems among the memberships contribute to fragmented and intermittent cooperation. This chapter identifies the need for IPCOs to manage institutional pluralism in order to improve coordination, foster communication, and ensure information sharing. The focus of this chapter is the interactive relationship between member states and the IPCO in the effort to counter transnational crime. Based on information from interviews with Interpol and Europol officials, the authors highlight the importance of the human factor and how capacity-building has become a role that both IPCOs have been forced to assume. Interpol and Europol set the tone for cooperation by establishing cooperative mechanisms that incite states to cooperate in specific ways. By introducing capacity-building initiatives, the IPCO influences participation rates and methods of participation. The chapter shows that the development of a political and operational ability reinforces the influence of an IPCO. This is shown through the stronger influence on member states of a younger Europol compared with an older Interpol. The chapter notes the dangers of increasing supranational power of an IPCO, however. There is a danger that the rights of those accused will be diluted and undermined in order to gain greater cooperation among member states. 9 notes