International Criminal Police Organization Arabic: منظمة الشرطة الجنائية الدولية French: Organisation internationale de police criminelle Spanish: Organización Internacional de Policía Criminal
Common name	Interpol
Abbreviation	ICPO-INTERPOL
Motto	Connecting police for a safer world
Agency overview
Formed	7 September 1923; 102 years ago (1923-09-07)
Preceding agencies	First International Criminal Police Congress (1914) International Police Conference (1922) International Criminal Police Commission (1923)
Employees	1,050 (2019)
Annual budget	€176 million (2023)
Jurisdictional structure
International agency
Countries	196 member states
Governing body	General Assembly
Constituting instrument	ICPO-INTERPOL Constitution and General Regulations[1][2]
Operational structure
Headquarters	Lyon, France
Multinational agency
Nationalities of personnel	130 (2024)
Agency executives	Valdecy Urquiza, Secretary-General Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, President Sarka Havrankova, Garba Baba Umar, Valdecy Urquiza, Vice Presidents
Facilities
National Central Bureaus	196
Website
interpol.int
Languages (4) English Arabic French Spanish

The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol^[3] (UK: /ˈɪntərpɒl/ IN-tər-pol, US: /-poʊl/ -⁠pohl;^[4] stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. It is the world's largest international police organization. It is headquartered in Lyon, France, with seven regional bureaus worldwide, and a National Central Bureau in all 196 member states.^[5]

The organization today known as Interpol was founded on 7 September 1923 at the close of a five-day International Police Congress in Vienna as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC);^[6] it adopted many of its current duties throughout the 1930s. After coming under Nazi control in 1938,^[7] the agency had its headquarters in the same building as the Gestapo.^[8] It was effectively stagnant until the end of World War II.^[7] In 1956, the ICPC adopted a new constitution and the name Interpol, derived from its telegraphic address used since 1946.^[3]

Interpol provides investigative support, expertise and training to law enforcement worldwide, focusing on three major areas of transnational crime: terrorism, cybercrime and organized crime. Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against humanity, child pornography, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, intellectual property infringement, as well as white-collar crime.^[9] The agency also facilitates cooperation among national law enforcement institutions through the utilisation of criminal databases, crime information centers, and communications networks. Contrary to popular belief, Interpol is itself not a law enforcement agency.

Interpol has an annual budget of €142 million ($155 million), most of which comes from annual contributions by member police forces in 181 countries. It is governed by a General Assembly composed of all member countries, which elects the executive committee and the president (currently Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates) to supervise and implement Interpol's policies and administration. Day-to-day operations are carried out by the General Secretariat, comprising around 1,000 personnel from over 100 countries, including both police and civilians. The Secretariat is led by the secretary-general, currently Valdecy Urquiza, the former vice president of Interpol for the Americas.^[10]

Pursuant to its charter, Interpol seeks to remain politically neutral in fulfilling its mandate, and is thus barred from interventions or activities that are political, military, religious, or racial in nature and from involving itself in disputes over such matters.^[11] The agency operates in four languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish.^[5]