Interpol: Foundation and Cooperation

In April 1914, Prince Albert I of Monaco invited police officers and legal professionals from different countries to discuss cooperation in criminal investigation, identification, and extradition. The First World War interrupted the initiative. Changes in borders and transport after the war sustained the need for police in different countries to obtain mutually usable information when tracing people across borders or investigating forged documents and currency crime.

Vienna police chief Johannes Schober convened the Second International Criminal Police Congress in 1923. On September 7, participants decided to establish the International Criminal Police Commission, or ICPC. The congress included representatives of twenty countries, counting the host, Austria. These police contacts became the starting point for permanent cooperation.

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Austria offered to provide and fund the headquarters, making Vienna the commission’s center. Schober chaired the executive committee, with Oskar Dressler serving as secretary. An international office within the Vienna police handled correspondence and records from different police agencies. Reliance on an existing institution enabled the organization to begin routine work after its establishment.

This arrangement also closely connected international cooperation with the host country’s police system. Its initial resource base should not be recast in terms of the financial system introduced after 1956: Austria initially supported the headquarters, while membership contributions and an autonomous budget were strengthened later under the new constitution. Funding sources and custody of records both influence how independently an international network can operate in practice.

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The founding conference addressed direct police contacts, assistance with arrest and extradition, shared working languages, and records relating to counterfeit currency, checks, passports, and fingerprints. Its method was to reduce interruptions in information at national borders: identification features or criminal leads held by one country could be checked in another through liaison channels, while investigation and arrest remained the responsibility of the countries concerned.

From 1925, Dressler edited the multilingual publication International Public Safety, carrying wanted notices, information on unidentified dead people, lists of stolen property, and organizational news. Member countries began establishing national central bureaus in 1925, with Belgium taking the lead. Publications and designated contacts together turned occasional correspondence into a more stable procedure for cooperation.

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The commission’s history did not proceed smoothly along a path of technical cooperation. After Germany annexed Austria in 1938, the Nazis took control of the Vienna-based organization. Researcher Mathieu Deflem describes how Nazi police officials first sought influence through participation, then used personnel and institutional arrangements to secure control. The headquarters later moved to Berlin.

Deflem also cautions that retaining the name and continuing communications did not mean normal international cooperation persisted. Drawing on FBI records and other material, he explains how the bureau gradually recognized Nazi control and stopped corresponding with the commission in 1941. This episode shows that a supposedly professional and technical network could still fall under a regime’s control. Political neutrality required institutional safeguards, not merely the founders’ aspirations.

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In June 1946, at the initiative of Belgian police official Florent Louwage, representatives met in Brussels to rebuild the commission and adopt new regulations. Louwage became president, Louis Ducloux secretary general, and the headquarters was established in Paris, using “Interpol” as its telegraphic address. The Vienna General Assembly adopted a new constitution in 1956 and the name International Criminal Police Organization.

The constitution defined the responsibilities of bodies including the General Assembly, Executive Committee, General Secretariat, and National Central Bureaus. Each National Central Bureau linked domestic agencies, foreign counterparts, and the General Secretariat, bringing international information into national police systems. Membership contributions and other resources accepted with approval supported the budget. The secretary general prepared a draft budget for review by the Executive Committee and acceptance by the General Assembly.

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The constitution calls for the widest possible mutual assistance in criminal policing within national laws and expressly prohibits intervention or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial character. Liaison and information services form the institution’s core. Investigations, arrests, and judicial proceedings in each country still have their own legal foundations; the existence of an international organization does not abolish those procedures.

The early paper records, multilingual publications, and designated contacts reveal Interpol’s basic contribution: organizing clues and expertise dispersed across countries. Its history also shows that efficient cooperation must be considered alongside limits of authority, institutional independence, and responsibility for the use of information. Foundation in 1923, reconstruction in 1946, and reorganization in 1956 were distinct stages in that process.

References: [5] [3]