INTERPOL
CORE
FUNCTIONS
INTERPOL CORE FUNCTIONS
[Link] Global Communication Systems
[Link] Data Services and Databases for Police
[Link] Police Support Services
[Link] Training and Development
1. SECURE GLOBAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
INTERPOL’s global police communications system, known as I-24/7, enables
police in all member countries to request, submit and access vital data
instantly in a secure environment.
It provides police around the world with a common platform through which
they can share crucial information about criminals and criminality.
Through a single-entry portal, member countries have access to complete
messaging services, as well as regular Interpol General Secretariat police
services.
I- 24/7
Countries use this secure network to contact each other and the General
Secretariat.
It also allows them to access Interpol’s databases and services in real-time,
from both central and remote locations.
2. OPERATIONAL DATA SERVICES AND DATABASES FOR POLICE
It ensures that police worldwide have access to the information and services
they need to prevent and investigate crimes.
Databases includes data or information on criminals such as names,
fingerprints, DNA profiles and stolen or lost travel documents and vehicles etc.
LIST
OF
INTERPOL
DATABASE
1. Individuals Nominal Database
Collect personal data and the criminal history of people subject to request for
international police cooperation.
2. The International Child Sexual Exploitation Image Database
Uses sophisticated image comparison software to make connections between
victims, abusers and places.
The aim is to identify, locate and arrest perpetrators, and to remove victims
from harm.
3. Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)
Authorized users in member countries can view, submit and cross-check
records in the fingerprints database via a user-friendly automatic fingerprint
identification system (AFIS).
Checks:
For individuals who are unknown in the database, this takes only a few minutes
(automatic search)
For individuals known in the database, this takes about an hour (semi-automatic
search)
For unidentified latent prints from a crime scene, this takes about an hour
(manual process)
The automated process means the database can make more than 1,000
comparisons per day. The system is also capable of searching and filing palm
prints.
[Link] Profiles Database
This database contains DNA profiles from offenders, crime scenes, missing
persons and unidentified bodies.
Created in 2002, INTERPOL’s DNA database currently contains more than
180,000 profiles contributed by 84 member countries.
5. I-Familia
The aim of I-Familia is to identify missing persons globally through family
DNA matching. I-Familia helps to reunite loved ones or to bring closure to
cases and allow families to rebuild their lives.
[Link] Recognition System Database
The Facial Recognition System database provides a dedicated platform to store
and cross-check images for the purpose of identifying fugitives, missing persons
and persons of interest.
7. Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) Database
The SLTD database contains records on lost, stolen and revoked travel
documents – such as passports, identity cards, visa stamps, including stolen
blank travel documents.
I-Checkit
Help identify and stop criminals from using lost or stolen travel documents
long before they get to the airport or the border. A positive ‘hit’ will be relayed
to law enforcement, to take any necessary actions.
8. Stolen Administrative Documents (SAD) Database
The SAD database contains records of stolen official documents that serve to
identify objects, for example, vehicle registration documents and clearance
certificates for import/export.
9. The Frontex INTERPOL Electronic Library Document System (FIELDS)
gives police officers and border guards visual information on the key markers
that can indicate a counterfeit or forged document.
10. EDISON (Electronic Documentation and Information System on
Investigation Networks)
provides examples of genuine travel documents, in order to help identify
fakes. It contains images, descriptions and security features of genuine travel
and identity documents issued by countries and international organizations.
11. Motor Vehicle and Stolen Cars Database
This database contains extensive identification details from all types of motor
vehicles (cars, trucks, trailers, heavy machinery, motorbikes) and identifiable
spare parts reported as stolen.
12. Stolen Vessels Database
The Stolen Vessels database serves as a centralized tool for tracing and
tracking stolen vessels and engines.
13. The Works of Art Database
The Works of Art database contains descriptions and pictures of cultural
objects reported as stolen by the member countries and international partners
such as the International Council of Museums and UNESCO. It includes items
looted during crisis periods in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.
14. The Interpol Firearms Reference Table
It is an interactive online tool that provides a standardized methodology to
identify and describe firearms more accurately so they can then be traced in
cross-border investigations.
15. The Interpol Illicit Arms Records and Tracing Management System (i-
ARMS)
is the only global law enforcement platform to support the transnational
tracing of illicit, lost or stolen firearms. It improves information exchange and
cooperation between law enforcement agencies on terrorism and other
firearm-related crimes.
[Link] Interpol Ballistic Information Network (IBIN)
is the only large-scale international ballistics data sharing network in the
world. It provides intelligence to law enforcement agencies through the
centralized storage and cross-comparison of ballistics imaging in order to find
connections between crimes from different countries that might otherwise
remain undetected.
17. Organized Crime Networks Database
The purpose of these databases is to improve the collection and exchange of
intelligence, support investigations, and better analyze the crime networks,
leading to the identification and arrest of their leaders and financiers.
18. Maritime Piracy Database
The maritime piracy database stores intelligence related to cases of piracy and
armed robbery at sea, including data on individuals, telephone numbers, e-
mail addresses, piracy incidents, locations, businesses and financial
information.
19. Notices Database
are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in
member countries to share critical crime-related information.
Details are stored in a database known as the INTERPOL Criminal
Information System.
3. OPERATIONAL POLICE SUPPORT SERVICES
It supports law enforcement officials in the field with emergency support and
operational activities, especially in its priority crime areas of fugitive, public
safety and terrorism, drugs and organized crime, trafficking in human beings
and financial high-tech crimes.
A Command and Coordination Centre operates 24 hours a day, seven days a
week and can deploy an Incident Response Team to the scene of a serious
crime or disaster.
INTERPOL’s
SUPPORT
SERVICES
1. INTERPOL’S COMMAND AND COORDINATION CENTER
It is the operations room at INTERPOL, offering a point of contact for any
member country seeking urgent police information or facing a crisis situation.
2. INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM
An INTERPOL Incident Response Team (IRT) is a team of experts deployed at
the request of a member country during a crisis situation. There are two types of
IRT:
Disaster – an emergency response to unforeseen catastrophic events, such as
large-scale accidents or natural disasters. Disaster IRTs generally provide
disaster victim identification (DVI) assistance;
Crime – the deployment of specialized personnel to assist and support a
member country faced with a major or serious police issue. Crime IRTs
provide specific expertise and investigative support to police.
3. INTERPOL NETWORK OF EXPERT
4. INTERPOL MAJOR EVENT SUPPORT TEAMS
is deployed to assist member countries in the preparation, coordination and
implementation of security arrangements for major international events.
Events such as high-profile conferences or sporting events attract large
crowds or intense media coverage. As such, they may also attract individuals
or groups intending to disrupt such events to gain attention for their cause or
for criminal purpose.
4. INTERPOL MAJOR EVENT SUPPORT TEAMS
The threat of terrorism and event disruption has forced host countries to
dedicate more time and resources to be prepared to cope with any situation.
Increasingly, member countries are requesting support from INTERPOL, not
only in the lead up to an event but for its duration.
An IMEST also has the capacity and resources to become an Incident
Response Team if a crisis situation should happen at a major event.
The first IMEST was deployed in 2002 to the USA for the Winter Olympic
Games in Salt Lake City.
POLICE
TRAINING
AND
DEVELOPMENT
4. POLICE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
INTERPOL provides focused police training initiatives with the aim of
enhancing the capacity of member countries to effectively combat
transnational crime and terrorism.
This includes sharing knowledge, skills and best practices in policing and
establishing global standards.
Aim to help officials in INTERPOL’S member countries to improve their
operational effectiveness, enhance their skills and build their capacity to
address the increasingly globalized and sophisticated nature of criminality
today.
