Interpol General Assembly arrives in Glasgow

By Brandon McLean

Image of Glasgow streets by Adam Marikar

Glasgow began hosting the 92nd Interpol General Assembly on the 4 November. The event was opened by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as he welcomed all 190 countries to the city. Today marked the final day of the event, as they addressed a wide array of topics exploring the future of international policing and battling organised crime.  
 
The General Assembly is the supreme governing body for Interpol, they meet yearly with representatives from each attending country. These representatives include criminology experts such as chiefs of police and senior ministry officials, as they come together to try and reduce worldwide criminal activity. Decisions are made here toward this goal using a one country, one vote system. 
 
They have discussed the use of biometric frontline capabilities, exploring a future of being able to identify criminals and terrorists to stop them from crossing international borders. Alongside this, AI and its benefits to policing will be explored, as they consider its potential in allowing it to do administrative tasks for police forces. 
 
Talks of a large scale integrated global security system are also taking place alongside looks at the future of law enforcement leadership. These factors are at the forefront as cyber-crime is becoming far more relevant within this digital age. 

Keir Starmer at Interpol General Assembly by Jeff J Mitchell

Established in 1923 in Australia, Interpol is the (International Criminal Police Organisation) and is made up of governments from 196 countries. It exists to combat crime worldwide and allows for police from different countries to get in contact with one another through the I-24/7 system.  
Interpol also allows experts in criminology from around the world to share their expertise wherever it might be needed. Interpol’s existence is getting more crucial with crime getting more and more international every year.