INTERPOL Washington Leads U.S. Delegation to the 87th INTERPOL General Assembly

The Director of INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau—served as the U.S. Head of Delegation to the 87^th INTERPOL General Assembly held November 18-21, 2018, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also attended a portion of the gathering. Director Wayne H. Salzgaber led the U.S. team composed of representatives from the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, State, and Defense, as well as leaders in U.S. State and local law enforcement.

The theme of this year’s gathering is policing in the information age, with sessions addressing how technology will change future threats and how technology can be used by law enforcement to meet these challenges. On the first day of the assembly, Rosenstein amplified the cyber theme of the meeting during prepared remarks presented to the group of international law enforcement officials. He challenged international law enforcement to balance fighting the rise of cybercrime with maintaining the rule of law. “When our successors speak of our time here, give them reason to say that we understood the challenges; we found the solutions; we defended our principles, and we stayed the course to support liberty and justice for all,” he said.

Over the four days, delegates will be updated on counterterrorism, cybercrime, and organized and emerging crime. The General Assembly is composed of delegates appointed by the governments of member countries. As INTERPOL’s supreme governing body, it meets once a year and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international cooperation, working methods, finances and programs of activities. The General Assembly also approves new members and elects its Executive Committee, among other matters.

During this assembly, the countries of Kiribati and Vanuatu were approved for membership; while a bid by Kosovo to join was rejected. On the last day, the Assembly elected Kim Yong Yang of the Republic of Korea to serve as INTERPOL president until 2020. Each member country represented has one vote. More than 170 of INTERPOL’s 194 member countries attended the meeting.

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.