OUR MISSION

INTERPOL Washington, U.S National Central Bureau (USNCB) is the official U.S. representative to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) as designated by the U.S. Attorney General. USNCB serves as the national point of contact for INTERPOL matters and coordinates international investigative cooperation between INTERPOL’s 188 member countries and the more than 18,000 federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.

WHO WE ARE

USNCB is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and staffed with sworn law enforcement personnel detailed from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies who work side by side with full-time DOJ employees serving as analysts, translators, technicians and administrators.

INTERPOL SERVICES & NOTICE PROGRAM

INTERPOL is an international organization whose mission is to facilitate the exchange of police information and promote cooperation and assistance between law enforcement authorities of its 188 member countries, including the United States. INTERPOL provides investigative resources to its member countries and their law enforcement officials. These resources include a secure communications network and databases containing information supplied by its member countries on wanted persons, persons with criminal histories, persons involved in criminal activity, missing persons, stolen and lost passports and travel documents, stolen vehicles, and other law enforcement information.

INTERPOL administers a system of international lookout/advisory notices to assist law enforcement authorities of INTERPOL’s member countries. The notices, color coded to designate their specific purposes, are issued by INTERPOL’s General Secretariat in Lyon, France, at the request of member countries, and are distributed to member countries and their appropriate law enforcement officials. USNCB is responsible for seeking the issuance of all INTERPOL notices on behalf of U.S. authorities, and alerting U.S. authorities to the existence of INTERPOL notices issued by other countries. INTERPOL Red, Blue and Green notices, in particular, have demonstrated themselves to be very effective in locating and tracking high-profile subjects of interest to law enforcement (e.g., known or suspected terrorists, consolidated priority organization targets, sexual predators and human traffickers).


RECENT NEWS

On January 10, 2012, Director Timothy A. Williams was a keynote speaker at the third annual FBI/Fordham University International Conference on Cyber Security in New York City. The conference, which featured subject matter experts in cyber security, was attended by government, private industry, and academia. Director Williams spoke about the international challenges facing cyber investigators today and the new INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation being constructed in Singapore.


Photo of Director Timothy Williams

On Thursday, November 3, 2011, INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy A. Williams was elected by representatives from INTERPOL’s member countries to serve on INTERPOL’s Executive Committee as a Delegate to the Americas Region for one year. Director Williams was one of seven individuals elected to the Executive Committee. INTERPOL’s Executive Committee members provide guidance to the Secretary General on all matters related to the Organization.


Photo of Director Timothy Williams

On Thursday, October 13, 2011, INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy Williams along with officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) participated in a Repatriation Ceremony for the return of the “Une Fille de Pêcheur” (A Fisherman’s Daughter). This significant piece of art was stolen from France more than 90 years ago.

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Photo of Director Timothy Williams at Americas Region in the Regional Fugitive Training Symposium

Director Timothy A. Williams addresses more than 130 law enforcement officials from the Americas Region in the Regional Fugitive Training Symposium held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which was sponsored by INTERPOL Washington, the U.S. National Central Bureau. “It is always a wonderful opportunity when you can bring law enforcement agencies together for training and to build relationships that will lead to future collaborative efforts to protect our communities,” stated INTERPOL Washington Director Williams.


Photo of INTERPOL Washington director Timothy A. Williams

INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy A. Williams delivers remarks at INTERPOL's Specialist Group Meeting on Crimes against Children in Lyon, France, September 5-7, 2011. More than 200 participants from 55 countries and 20 international organizations attended the 29th meeting of experts working together to fight child exploitation. The Specialist Working Group and the Sub-groups received briefings and discussed topics including online child exploitation, traveling of sex offenders and combating sex tourism, victim identification, and violent crimes against children.

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Photo of INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy A. Williams

INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy A. Williams addresses more than 400 participants during the opening session of the first ever Human Trafficking Training Symposium hosted by INTERPOL Washington in partnership with the City of Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico, June 6-10, 2011.


Photo of Interpol Washington Director Timothy A. Williams, Deputy Director Shawn A. Bray, and INTERPOL’s Executive Committee President Khoo Boon Hui

INTERPOL Washington Director Timothy A. Williams (left) and Deputy Director Shawn A. Bray recognize INTERPOL’s Executive Committee President Khoo Boon Hui (center) during his official visit to the USNCB Monday, December 13, 2010. President Khoo met briefly with USNCB Management and staff before departing to meet with several heads of other law enforcement agency officials.


Delegates attending the Meeting of the INTERPOL Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)

On May 23-24, 2011, INTERPOL Washington hosted the 22nd meeting of the INTERPOL Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Expert Working Group (IAEWG). Founded in 1998 at the 67th United Nations General Assembly, the IAEWG serves to develop and promote standards addressing the capture, storage, and transmission of biometric data. Such standards facilitate inter-operability between AFIS systems with the ultimate goal of universal adoption within the international law enforcement community. Thirty-one delegates from 11 different countries were present, including China, France, and Israel. The next IAEWG meeting will be held in Wiesbaden, Germany in November 2011.

  • In the News...
  • PERU – Johnny D. Guillen Pimentel was arrested in a mall in Lima, Peru on Friday, January 15, 2012, by Peruvian authorities. Pimentel was wanted by the Fairfax County Police Department, Fairfax County, Virginia, for ambushing and slashing the buttocks of as many as six women in Fairfax County Department stores from February through July 2011. Pimentel was identified by Interpol Lima from a Red Notice issued by INTERPOL Washington, the U.S. National Central Bureau, on December 30th, 2011.

  • WASHINGTON - INTERPOL Washington congratulates four staff members who received the Assistant Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service during the Criminal Division Awards Ceremony that took place on Monday, December 12, 2011. Hats off to Deputy Director Shawn Bray, General Counsel Kevin Smith, INTERPOL Analyst Emily Genung, and Legal Analyst Kathleen O'Connell who received the award for their major contributions on the successful prosecution of the case of United States v. UI Haq, where Irfahn UI Haq, Qasim Ali, and Zahid Yousaf pled guilty to charges they conspired to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Collaborative efforts within U.S. agencies have been successful in the disruption and dismantlement of human smuggling networks as a result of the convictions in UI Haq and other law enforcement actions related to the investigation of the case, and have proven to be most significant in more than a decade.

  • BOSTON — Three Guatemalan nationals were arrested yesterday in Lynn, Mass., by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in coordination with INTERPOL Washington and the local police. The three are wanted by Guatemalan authorities for the rape and murder of a female.

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  • WASHINGTON – On Monday, October 31, 2011, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole provided a keynote address to INTERPOL member country representatives during the 80th INTERPOL General Assembly in Hanoi, Vietnam. Mr. Cole’s presentation addressed the issue of combating cybercrime and the importance of an internationally coordinated response.

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  • WASHINGTON - On August 21, 2011, Director Williams served as a keynote speaker during the opening plenary session for the International Association for Women Police’s (IAWP) 49th Annual Training Conference, held in Lexington, Kentucky. IAWP works to increase the visibility of women law enforcement officers internationally. The event itself, which works to disseminate important information to the IAWP members, brought together representatives from 39 different countries as well as the United Nations.
  • United States Senator Barbara A. Mikulski Visits INTERPOL Headquarters in France

    WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, August 10, 2011, Timothy A. Williams, Director of INTERPOL Washington, attended an INTERPOL briefing for U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski at INTERPOL Headquarters in Lyon, France.

    Having never seen the inner-workings of INTERPOL, INTERPOL Washington facilitated the opportunity for Senator Mikulski to receive a first-hand look at the day-to-day operations. Escorted by Director Williams and staff, Senator Mikulski received a tour of the facilities at the INTERPOL General Secretariat, as well as attended multiple presentations illustrating how INTERPOL provides technical and operational assistance to police agencies as they face an increasing number of crimes both domestically and internationally. Senator Mikulski, the first woman elected to the Senate from Maryland, is currently the longest-serving female senator and the second longest-serving female member in the history of the United States Congress. As part of her responsibilities as a U.S. Senator, she serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies and is a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence.
  • INTERPOL Washington and INTERPOL Partner at the Annual Crimes Against Children Conference

    WASHINGTON – INTERPOL Washington and representatives from the INTERPOL Secretariat General in Lyon, France, coordinated efforts in the 23rd Annual Crimes Against Children Conference, from August 8 through August 11, 2011, in Dallas, Texas.

    This was the first year that INTERPOL Washington and the INTERPOL Secretariat General collaborated to provide classroom instruction during the conference. The goal of the Crimes Against Children Conference is to provide practical instruction using current information, the newest ideas, and the most successful intervention strategies to professionals responsible for combating the numerous and diverse forms of crimes against children. By utilizing state-of-the-art, high-level technological infrastructures, INTERPOL provides technical and operational assistance to police agencies throughout the world as they face an increasing number of transnational crimes.

    The Crimes Against Children Conference featured presentations from federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, as well as from other organizations that specialize in combating crimes against children both domestically and internationally. Over 20 years ago, the Crimes Against Children Conference started with just 50 attendees. This year alone, approximately 3,000 law enforcement professionals attended the conference.

INTERNSHIPS

Applications for Fall internships are due Friday, June 4th, 2011. Find out more...