INTERPOL stands for International Criminal Police Organization . It is not like any state police , they don’t control law and order . Their actual service is to coordinate different police forces of the world. For example , if a person from India flees out of country after committing a crime then police in india cannot directly search for the criminal in another country neither can it issue lookout notices in other countries . Instead of contacting the other country’s police directly it can seek service from interpol.
It is an international organization which has headquarters ( General Secretariat ) in Lyon, France. Total 195 countries are its members . It has seven regional bureaus and National Central Bureau (NCB) in all member countries . National Central Bureau (NCB) is not under interpol actually a specified investigative agency in each country works as NCB . For instance Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) works as NCB in india . It majorly works three types of crimes namely terrorism , cybercrime and organized crime along with these it also covers drug trafficking , white collar crime , political corruption etc.
They also have a massive database which keeps data regarding offenders from all member countries . It has an annual budget 142 million dollars which is contributed by member countries . It also has its own 24×7 communication system known as I-24/7 which allows member countries to access its database in real time , from both central and remote locations. This facility also enables member nations to communicate easily with other police forces of the world.
INTERPOL Notices
An Interpol notice is an international alert circulated to member countries to communicate information about crimes, criminals and threats by police in a member state to their counterparts around the world . Notices of interpol are issued in any one of its four official languages i.e English, French, Spanish and Arabic. It only publishes notices that adhere to all proper legal conditions.
Their are 8 different types of notices.
1 . RED NOTICE
This notice issued when a person is to be arrested and persecuted but flees out of the country . This notice says that the particular person is to be arrested therefore if that person is found then he will be arrested by the police of that country .
2. BLUE NOTICE
This is issued against people who are facing investigation in a country in order to obtain their whereabouts like their location etc.
3. YELLOW NOTICE
This is issued to find missing persons who are missing in their home country .
4. BLACK NOTICE
This is issued to obtain information on unidentified bodies.
5. GREEN NOTICE
This is issued to warn other countries that a particular person who has arrived in their country can cause some threats.
6. ORANGE NOTICE
It is issued to warn about a person or process which can cause serious damage .
7. PURPLE NOTICE
This is issued to obtain information about criminals on their particular crime , modi operandi etc.
8. UN SECURITY COUNCIL SPECIAL NOTICE
These are issued for some special purposes of UNSC . To inform members of interpol that a particular person or entity is subject to UN sanctions.
CRITICISM’S OF INTERPOL
- Countries use interpol for political purposes – to hunt down people who leave country or cant stay in their own country because they criticize the government.
- Non-democratic states use interpol to harrass opposition politicians, journalists, human rights activists etc.