The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, was founded as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) on this day in 1923 at the close of a five-day International Police Congress in Vienna. It was named Interpol, derived from its telegraphic address used since 1946, when the ICPC adopted a new constitution In 1956.

Headquartered in Lyon, France, with seven regional bureaus worldwide, and a National Central Bureau in all 195 member states, it facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control and is today the world’s largest international police organization.

Interpol adopted many of its current duties throughout the 1930s. However, after coming under Nazi control in 1938, the agency, which had its headquarters in the same building as the Gestapo, was effectively moribund until the end of World War II.

Interpol provides investigative support, expertise and training to law enforcement worldwide, focusing on three major areas of transnational crime:  terrorism, cybercrime and organized crime. Its broad mandate covers virtually every kind of crime, including crimes against humanity, child pornography, drug trafficking and production, political corruption, intellectual property infringement, as well as white-collar crime. The agency also facilitates cooperation among national law enforcement institutions through criminal databases and communications networks. Contrary to popular belief, Interpol is itself not a law enforcement agency.

Interpol has an annual budget of €142 million, most of which comes from annual contributions by member police forces in 181 countries. It is governed by a General Assembly composed of all member countries, which elects the executive committee and the President (currently Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi of the United Arab Emirates) to supervise and implement Interpol’s policies and administration.

Day-to-day operations are carried out by the General Secretariat, comprising around 1,000 personnel from over 100 countries, including both police and civilians. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General, currently Jürgen Stock, the former deputy head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office.

Pursuant to its charter, Interpol seeks to remain politically neutral in fulfilling its mandate, and is thus barred from interventions or activities that are political, military, religious, or racial in nature and from involving itself in disputes over such matters. The agency operates in four languages: Arabic, English, French and Spanish.

-Wikipedia