Senior police officials from around the world are meeting at INTERPOL’s seventh Heads of National Central Bureaus (NCBs) conference to focus on INTERPOL initiatives aimed at meeting the emerging crime threats facing member countries.
The three-day (April 19 to 21) conference gathering some 250 delegates from almost 150 countries opened with its focus set on the need for INTERPOL to continually adapt its resources and expertise to better address 21st century crime and member countries’ evolving security requirements.
INTERPOL President Khoo Boon Hui said that the world police body had ‘to continue to grow and adapt to meet modern crime challenges and the needs of its 188 member countries’, while remaining true to its central tenet of enhancing international police co-operation.
"To remain effective and relevant, INTERPOL must clearly understand the current global policing challenges, anticipate emerging security threats and develop innovative crime approaches to counter such threats," said INTERPOL’s President.
Addressing the conference for the first time since his election to a third term as Secretary General at the 2010 General Assembly in Qatar, Ronald K. Noble emphasized the fundamental role played by INTERPOL’s National Central Bureaus in extending law enforcement co-operation worldwide.
"As we speak, 34 countries participating in operation INFRA-SA, targeting more than 200 fugitives in South America, are receiving support from our Regional Bureau in Buenos Aires. To date, more than 30 subjects have either been located or arrested. This success was only made been possible with the strong support of our NCBs and close co-operation with INTERPOL’s General Secretariat headquarters," said Mr Noble.
Addressing the implications for international policing brought by the changing security landscape, the head of INTERPOL said that the world police body had to look towards the future: "The establishment of the INTERPOL Global Complex in Singapore by 2014 will open the way towards the INTERPOL of tomorrow – an INTERPOL able to address cyber-crime and to satisfy the demand of our member countries for capacity building and training of police to meet the crime challenges of the 21st century."
"Every day, thousands of people around the world are becoming victims of a crime perpetrated via the Internet. Innovation is making it possible for people to have greater access to one another for good and for bad. To operate effectively in this landscape, INTERPOL must make research and innovation – particularly fighting digital crime and providing digital security – one of its best allies. Innovation and digital security must become the cornerstone of INTERPOL’s future," added the head of INTERPOL.
The conference also heard how to meet today’s security challenges, the adoption of the INTERPOL Travel Document initiative will also enable the Organization to provide faster on-site support to member countries requesting assistance, with countries granting special visa status to staff traveling on official business.
