NCJ Number
56463
Date Published
1978
Length
5 pages
Annotation
THE NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIME AS WELL AS TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND MEASURES USED BY THE POLICE AGAINST SUCH CRIME ARE DESCRIBED.
Abstract
INTERNATIONAL ANTICRIME ORGANIZATIONS ORIGINATED WITH THE THREE-MEMBER INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR CRIMINALISTS IN 1888. IMPORTANT CONFERENCES IN 1914 AND 1923 LED TO THE FORMATION OF INTERPOL WITH ITS CENTRAL OFFICES IN VIENNA, WHICH WERE TRANSFERRED TO PARIS IN 1946. THE MOST COMMON INTERNATIONAL CRIMES IN WESTERN EUROPE ARE DRUG TRADE, THEFT OF TRUCKS WITH CARGO, GRAND THEFT, MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT, THEFT OF ART OBJECTS, CURRENCY FORGERY, ILLEGAL WEAPONS TRADE, WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES, AND TERRORISM. POLICE STRATEGY IS MARRED BY LACK OF COORDINATION IN CONTROL EFFORTS, WIDE VARIATION IN REGULATIONS, SLOWNESS OF OFFICIAL CHANNELS, INCONSISTENCY IN EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS, AND PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT SHORTAGES. CRIME IS COMBATTED THROUGH INTERPOL, LEGAL ASSISTANCE TRAFFIC, AGREEMENTS, WORK GROUPS AND COMMISSIONS SUCH AS THE CROSS CHANNEL INTELLIGENCE CONFERENCE OR THE GERMAN-DUTCH WORK GROUP TO COMBAT DRUG CRIME, AND PERSONAL CONTACTS (PROBABLY THE MOST SUCCESSFUL METHOD). RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SHORT-TERM CRIME-FIGHTING MEASURES INCLUDE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SYSTEM IN COMMON MARKET COUNTRIES, OF A COMMON MARKET INTELLIGENCE CENTER, AND OF A WORK GROUP FOR GATHERING INFORMATION ON DRUG TRADE. COMMON PLANNING OF POLICE MEASURES SHOULD BE INSTITUTED FOR COMMON MARKET COUNTRIES. REGULAR INTERNATIONAL TRAINING SEMINARS SHOULD BE INTRODUCED FOR POLICE OFFICIALS. CONTACTS BETWEEN COMMON MARKET COUNTRIES SHOULD BE IMPROVED. FINALLY, FASTER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION SHOULD BE DEVELOPED. LONG-TERM PROPOSALS RELATE TO HARMONIZING DIVERGENT NATIONAL LAWS, ADOPTING A CONCEPT OF 'COMMON MARKET CRIME' ANALOGOUS TO U.S. FEDERAL OFFENSES, AND EVENTUALLY ESTABLISHING A COMMON MARKET POLICE FORCE. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)