Okay, continuing after the second video, we left off at the end of Roman numeral IV, and now we're going to start the Roman numeral V on page 618 of your text, substantive white-collar primaries. So Interpol is active in a number of substantive white-collar primaries. In this module, we're only going to discuss...
a few to give you a sample. So let's look at the theft of stolen cultural property. Since it first published the first Interpol notice on stolen works of art in 1947, Interpol has developed a highly efficient system for circulating information in the form of a database accessible not only to law enforcement agencies but also to members of the public. public who have been provided with specific access rights. In addition, certain types of data may be accessed openly by the general public, such as the most recent stolen works of art reported to Interpol, recovered works of art, and works of art that have been recovered but remained unclaimed by their owners.
Interpol has also Additional resources available on its website, the latest Interpol poster showing the most wanted works of art. Interpol also partners with other international organizations such as the UNESCO, the International Council of Museums, the UN Organization for Drugs and Crime, and the World Customs Organization. Interpol is also active in corruption.
There's a discussion on pages 6, 19, and 20 of the Interpol work on corruption. Now let's look at its work on recovery and return of stolen vehicles. This is a illicit trafficking of vehicles is a form of organized crime that generates large profits for perpetrators. It's like a parallel economy.
Also, vehicle crime is linked to organized crime and terrorism. For instance, sometimes stolen cars are used to finance other crimes, and they can also be used as bomb carriers. Interpol's General Secretariat has developed automatic search facility, stolen motor vehicle, database to support police in member countries in the fight against international vehicle theft and trafficking.
There's also working groups within Interpol such as Project Formatrain, which assists investigators with information on vehicle and document identification, investigative strategies, techniques and tools. databases, legal preconditions. The aim of the project is to create a standardized training program to facilitate investigations of international vehicle crime with basic intermediate and advanced courses to teach trainers and to take advantage of the worldwide Interpol network for the sharing of expertise. Note that there's also a stolen Motor Vehicles Task Force, which aims to share skills and expertise between the different national experts.
Looking at financial and high-tech crimes, they include currency counterfeiting, money laundering, intellectual property crime, payment card fraud. Computer virus attacks, cyberterrorism. And let's first look at currency counterfeiting. So globalization has made myriad transnational criminal schemes designed to exploit financial payment systems, fraud schemes involving credit cards, identity theft, bank fraud. or the most fundamental financial crime, that is the production of counterfeit currency, prosper across national boundaries.
Although counterfeiting has diminished substantially since the establishment of special law enforcement units assigned to fight it, it remains a danger to national economies and to consumers. Recent developments in photographic and computer technology as well as printing devices have made the production of counterfeit money relatively easy, thereby increasing the threat. The effective protection of currencies from counterfeiters increasingly depends on partnerships among law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and other expert organizations.
Communication through Interpol's I-247 global police communication system and the efforts of its counterfeit and securities or security documents branch are geared to assist in strengthening those partnerships the general secretariat has brought together members of the law enforcement community paper manufacturing industry and the printing community by organizing and hosting international counterfeiting conferences throughout the world to specifically address counterfeiting concerns. Ten such conferences have been held since 1929. What about intellectual property crime? Intellectual property crime includes a wide range of counterfeiting and piracy offenses including trademark, patent, and copyright infringement. The last decade has seen a steady global increase. of intellectual property crimes.
Interpol offers national police forces in member countries and industries affected by counterfeiting a central point of reference on IP crime. It also facilitates and coordinates international enforcement action against transnational and organized criminals involved in IP crime. Note in 2000 the Interpol General Assembly adopted a resolution on IP crime.
It directed the General Secretariat to raise awareness of the problem and to develop a strategic plan to combat IP crime in close cooperation with affected industries. In 2002 Interpol convened its first expert group which adopted the name Interpol. Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Action Group, or IIPCAG, and it's now an integral part of Interpol IP Crime Unit. It meets twice a year, and its mission is to assist the General Secretariat in providing a collective response to the threat posed by organized crime involvement in IP crime. Membership in...
the IIPCAG varies depending on the location of the meetings. However, the core members are international organizations such as Interpol, the World Customs Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the European Commission, and law enforcement from various countries. There's also cross-industry representative bodies. and the private sector such as the Alliance Against Counterfeiting, the Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights, the Global Anti-Counterfeiting Network, the Global Business Leaders Alliance Against Counterfeiting, International Anti-Counterfeiting Group, International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, the Motion Picture Association, the Pharmaceutical Security Institute, and so forth. So these groups are an example of developing an international enforcement regime and also an international enforcement network.
And note that the IIPCAG has six different subcommittees that focus on IP crime. Those are... discussed on pages 624. and 625 of your text. Interpol is also involved in money laundering, and note that there's a I-M-O-L-I-N database, which serves as a clearinghouse for money laundering information for the benefit of all national and international anti-money laundering agencies. And it was developed by the Global Program Against Money Laundering.
of the UNODC and that again shows interplay between international organizations and more development of international enforcement regime and network. And note that there are five major features of IMOA, of IMOLEAN. which are discussed in more detail on pages 626 and 627 of your text.
Looking now at payment cards, the General Secretariat has played an instrumental role in helping law enforcement industry partners around the world address the growing problem of payment card fraud. In the mid-1990s, the General Secretariat brought together various experts in the field for the first international conference on payment card fraud, and thereafter, various national law enforcement agencies and the private sector have worked collaboratively on payment card fraud. And there's a database that's currently accessible to member countries and has proved to be useful to the law enforcement community. And Interpol is committed to keeping the database up to date.
Note on page 628 that Interpol is also very active in... environmental crimes, especially wildlife crime. So now let's turn to the NCB regional activities.
For several years, regionalization has been an important element of Interpol's strategy to deliver focused services to its member countries. Regionalization is a dynamic process that offers new opportunities and challenges. There are five regions of Interpol, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and North Africa. Each holds a policy-level conference every year, except Europe, which holds one. Everyone, but Europe holds it every other year, Europe holds it every year.
Europe has its own Interpol Secretariat and Committee. In Africa there are three sub-regions that have established equivalent structures. Regions are identified on a geopolitical basis, not simply on geography, and you can see on page 630 what these sub-groups are.
And Interpol delivers The following services regionally, it identifies law enforcement needs for central coordination and tailored solution, technical support through personnel working with the general secretariat, oversight to a global standard, training and development, namely coordination, standard setting and monitoring, facilitating access to training, coordination of operational activities. within the context of local priorities and action plans, regional crime analyses and reports, and proposal of or contributing to plans and strategies arising from regional analyses and reports. It also assists with the implementation of plans and strategies.
It does liaison problem solving, secretariat function, It identifies technical needs of member countries with a view to finding solutions. It enhances two-way flow of information, promotes and facilitates Interpol solutions to identified needs. It engages in marketing and public relations, implementing and monitoring central policy on security and confidentiality, performance evaluation, identifying linked initiatives and taking steps to avoid overlap and duplication. positioning the organization in the regional political arena and holding meetings, conferences, and committees and supporting organizations with linked or complementary objectives. What about staff, Interpol staff?
At the end of 2012, Interpol had a total of 703 people that worked at the Secretariat in Lyon, France. and regional murals representing 98 nationalities and women making up 42% of the staff. Interpol works in any of the four official languages, which are Arabic, English, French, and Spanish. A third of its staff are either seconded or detached by national law enforcement administration in Interpol's 190 member countries.
The remaining are international civil servants hired under contract directly by the organization. Interpol accepts applications from nationals of all member countries to ensure that it remains truly representative. International Liaison Interpol seeks to forge ties with all international bodies, government authorities, and NGOs whose mission is to fight crime and protect the public's safety. These collaborations occur formally through the signing of cooperation agreements and adoption of international conventions, and more informally, through Interpol's participation in international symposia, conferences, and working groups. The aims are to ensure that expertise and information are shared, that resources are not wasted, or efforts duplicated and that all organizations with a stake in the fight against international crime are able to exploit their comparative advantages most effectively.
International agreements and procedure. Interpol has signed cooperation agreements with the UN including related bodies such as UNESCO and with the International Criminal Court. It's also signed them with regional authorities such as the European Central Bank, the Organization of African Unity, the Arab Interior Ministers' Council.
It has also established strong relationships with a variety of international organizations and NGOs acting in different fields of interest to the organization. To provide a clear legal basis for working together, Interpol has concluded a number of cooperation agreements with these day-to-day partners.