DOHA, Qatar – Ronald K. Noble was today elected by INTERPOL’s General Assembly to serve a third term as the Secretary General of the world police body in a clear endorsement of Mr Noble’s approach towards making the organization a key player in fighting 21st century crime.
Nominated by INTERPOL’s Executive Committee as their candidate, delegates at the 79th Session of the General Assembly – meeting in Doha, Qatar from 8-11 November 2010 – voted by an overwhelming majority to re-appoint Mr Noble, first elected in Rhodes in 2000 and re-elected for a second term in Berlin in 2005. The election is on a one-country, one-vote basis.
The President of INTERPOL, Khoo Boon Hui, welcomed the General Assembly’s decision which recognized that under Mr Noble INTERPOL had become ‘more operational and more effective than ever before’.
“Ronald K. Noble has been a tireless campaigner for international law enforcement, seeing opportunities where others see challenges,” said President Khoo, adding “Under his leadership, INTERPOL has been brought into the 21st century and we look forward to the great things which lie ahead.”
Mr Noble, the first American INTERPOL Secretary General, thanked delegates for their support and trust, and pledged to continue to work closely with all of INTERPOL’s 188 member countries.
“I have been given a mandate to continue the work which I first began 10 years ago, and will devote my energies to making sure that INTERPOL remains at the forefront of international policing,” said Secretary General Noble. “I am delighted and proud that the General Assembly has demonstrated their support and given me the opportunity to continue to serve INTERPOL and the wider law enforcement community, building on the successes we have already achieved together.”
A key feature of the Secretary General’s vision for the future development of the Organization is the creation of the INTERPOL Global Complex (IGC) in Singapore, approved today by the General Assembly and for which Qatar has announced a pledge of USD 2 million towards its development.
“The General Assembly’s unanimous support for the INTERPOL Global Complex and Singapore’s generous offer to host it will ensure the continuation of our culture of innovation and is the next step in the Organization’s evolution. It will help all law enforcement raise their game in tackling the threats of the 21st century, particularly cybercrime,” added Secretary General Noble.
The Singapore Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, K. Shanmugam, said that siting the IGC in Singapore, with the overwhelming support of the INTERPOL General Assembly, was an important milestone for INTERPOL in its journey towards strengthening global policing capabilities. He added that Singapore was proud to be part of this historic project which will bring about greater safety and security for the Asia Pacific as well as strengthen INTERPOL's capabilities worldwide in new areas. The minister said that Singapore was strongly committed to INTERPOL's vision of connecting police forces for a safer world.
INTERPOL has seen a steep increase in the use of its operational police tools and services in recent years. Under Mr Noble’s leadership, INTERPOL developed the world’s first secure global police communications network, giving all 188 member countries real-time communication and access to INTERPOL’s tools and services. The IGC is an integral part of the Organization’s efforts to reinforce its operational platform and will focus on developing innovative and state-of-the-art policing tools to help law enforcement around the world, especially in enhancing preparedness to effectively counter cybercrime.
The Global Complex will also house a 24-hour Command and Co-ordination Centre (CCC), the third to be created since Mr Noble became Secretary General. The first CCC was established at the General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France in 2001, and the second was officially opened at the new Regional Bureau offices in Buenos Aires in October this year.
INTERPOL's supreme governing body, the General Assembly meets once a year and takes all major policy decisions. The 79th Session in Qatar brings together more than 650 police chiefs and senior law enforcement officials from 141 of its member countries.
