Police integrity, accountability, and oversight is the theme of this year’s United Nations International Day of Police Cooperation.
These three elements form the pillars for reinforcing the importance of the rule of law, promoting human rights-based policing, and building public trust in law enforcement, creating a strong, positive relationship with the communities they serve.
The rule of law
Upholding integrity ensures that officers adhere to ethical standards and maintain the public's confidence in their ability to enforce the law fairly and impartially.
Accountability is closely tied to integrity. Without accountability, there is little deterrence against abusive or corrupt practices.
Oversight, the third pillar, ensures that both integrity and accountability are maintained over time. Effective oversight helps to prevent systemic issues from developing and fosters a culture of transparency within law enforcement agencies.
INTERPOL’s mechanisms
INTERPOL has a range of mechanisms and procedures in place to ensure integrity and accountability, such as our Rules on the Processing of Data, and the independent Commission for the Control of INTERPOL’s Files.
Our General Assembly, which comprises all our member countries, is the oversight body that ensures our global actions are aligned with the needs of our membership.
The Code of Ethics for INTERPOL Officials provides general principles based on values which, beyond the necessary respect for compulsory rules, should lead to exemplary personal and professional behaviour for all staff. These five values are:
- Respect
- Excellence
- Integrity
- Teamwork
- Innovation
Stronger international cooperation
International cooperation is our mandate, our daily work. Every day, police in our 196 member countries exchange hundreds of messages to prevent and resolve crimes and track down the perpetrators.
INTERPOL connects police around the world to help catch fugitives who are trying to escape justice overseas – whether by crossing borders or organizing criminal activity from another country
None of this would be possible if international police cooperation did not have strong foundations in integrity and accountability.
