INTERPOL Ministerial Declaration looks to shape strategies against new aspects of contemporary violence

5 November 2012

ROME, Italy – Close to 100 Justice, Home Affairs and Security Ministers from around the globe gathered as part of INTERPOL’s General Assembly have approved a joint declaration recognizing the need to identify viable strategies to effectively address the changing modes of contemporary criminal violence through greater shared intelligence and increased use of international police tools and services.

The Ministerial meeting looked to shape new and appropriate policies on contemporary forms of violence such as extremism and terrorism, urban violence, human trafficking and smuggling by adapting security strategies to these threats, reconsidering existing doctrines on police methods, boosting global police cooperation by facilitating information exchange, and including all stakeholders within the security sector and beyond.

With INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble outlining at the meeting how ‘the threats we face today remain formidable because criminal violence constantly changes shape,’ the declaration encourages key decision-makers to take the necessary steps to facilitate national and collective action against the increasing prevalence of modern day criminal violence and the challenges faced by police forces in countering it.

The Ministerial meeting, the largest-ever of its kind, marked the beginning of the four-day (5 – 8 November) 81st INTERPOL General Assembly with the theme ‘Challenges for Police Facing Contemporary Violence’, which brings together more than 1,000 delegates from some 170 countries.