INTERPOL
The world's largest police-cooperation organisation, with 196 member countries. PCIC is the national focal point for Timor-Leste, with 24/7 access to the I-24/7 network and tools such as Red Notices.
INTERPOL - the International Criminal Police Organization - is the largest police-cooperation organisation in the world, bringing together the police forces of 196 member countries in a global network for sharing criminal information and coordinating operations. Timor-Leste's accession to INTERPOL and PCIC's integration as the national focal point represented a decisive qualitative leap in the country's ability to participate in the fight against transnational crime.
PCIC's INTERPOL Department (DI) is the hub of this cooperation. It is the gateway for all criminal information flowing between Timor-Leste and the rest of the world through the organisation's secure channels. The DI ensures permanent access - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - to the INTERPOL I-24/7 network, which allows police forces in all member countries to exchange criminal information in real time, securely and confidentially.
The operational tools that INTERPOL makes available to PCIC are many and of enormous practical value. Red Notices allow PCIC to request the location and provisional arrest of international fugitives in any member country - and to receive equivalent requests from other countries regarding suspects who may be in Timor-Leste. Blue Notices allow additional information to be collected about persons of interest in an investigation. INTERPOL's databases - of stolen or lost documents, stolen vehicles, firearms, fingerprints, and DNA profiles - are search and identity-verification tools of immense day-to-day utility for PCIC investigators.
Strategically, cooperation with INTERPOL is fundamental to combating the criminal phenomena that most threaten the security of Timor-Leste and the region: drug trafficking on transnational routes, trafficking in persons, money laundering involving multiple jurisdictions, international financial fraud, and terrorism. None of these phenomena can be effectively combated by an isolated country - cooperation through INTERPOL is the structural response to this reality.
PCIC's 2020-2030 Strategic Plan sets the goal of ensuring the permanent, uninterrupted functioning of the INTERPOL channel and, in the medium term, appointing a seconded PCIC officer to the INTERPOL Regional Bureau in Singapore. This physical presence at the organisation's main regional platform will significantly strengthen Timor-Leste's ability to participate in multinational investigations and to access the criminal information it needs in good time.