Where Is The Headquarters Of Interpol Located?

Sign at the Interpol headquarters Lyon, France.  in Editorial credit: HUANG Zheng / Shutterstock.com
Sign at the Interpol headquarters Lyon, France. in Editorial credit: HUANG Zheng / Shutterstock.com

What Is Interpol?

Interpol is the contraction of the phrase “international police” which refers to the International Criminal Police Organization. The International Criminal Police Organization is a worldwide organization that is mandated only for facilitating international police administrations, implying that this organization, the Interpol, does not issue any arrest warrants and the agents of the Interpol organization do not carry guns like those of FBI and ICE. Interpol is simply described as a bulletin organization or board where other national polices forces such as the FBI can post their wanted criminals or targets and request for full background information about the criminals. Interpol is currently operating under a total of 192 countries with the head of this organization being Mr. Meng Hongwei. The 192 countries that have agreed to work with the Interpol maintain a National Central Bureau that is operated by the national law enforcement officers of the respective countries. The central federal bureau of the individual nations then forms a direct link with the Interpol’s global network enabling these member countries to work with the Interpol on what is referred to as cross-border investigations.

Location of the Interpol Headquarters

The International Criminal Police Organization is a large organization constituting a total of 192 countries. To run this organization effectively within the 192 member countries, the organization must have a central point that controls all the activities of the Interpol across all the member states. Its headquarters are based in Lyon, France. Lyon is one of the largest cities in France, and it’s also described as a pilot metropolitan of the European Council. Therefore, the headquarters of the International Criminal Police Organization are based in Europe. The primary purpose of these headquarters is to provide a comprehensive database that can be used by law enforcement units in the different countries to fight crime effectively. The Interpol bases are precisely located in Lyon, France to control the 192 member countries better and enable the police officers from different countries to work together to make the world a better and safer place. For instance, a criminal might transfer stolen materials from Germany to Russia, the role of the Interpol in such a case is to feed the police force of Russia with the required information to conduct the arrest since the German police force cannot cross the Russian border to go and arrest the offender.

Source of Funds to Interpol

Interpol, being an independent organization, does not have sponsors or cooperates that fund its activities. The primary sources of funding for this organization are the member states. Annually, the Interpol collects revenue of around 113 million euros from the member countries. The member countries can also make additional contributions to make the running of this law enforcement body to run smoothly. Through this funding, the international criminal police organization has been able to enforce laws in different countries and has played a significant role in fighting all types of international crimes and terrorism.

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