Richardot, Michel

Interpol and Europol - 2002.


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International police cooperation, an essential strategy to fight organized crime under its various forms, has naturally produced international organizations which have achieved significant results. The oldest such organization, OICP-Interpol, headquartered in France, includes practically all the countries of the world. It must imperatively adapt itself to the constraints of the modern world. This is all the more necessary since it now faces competition from the European Office of Police (Europol) which, after a difficult beginning in the 1990s, has enlarged its area of competency and in the near future should become an essential operational service, a sort of clearinghouse for the fight against criminal organizations whose influence is often underestimated. Interpol and Europol may represent a solution provided the two organizations pool their resources against crime and avoid useless competition.