Interpol has warned that rapidly evolving security threats are outstripping the capacity of states and police agencies to respond, as delegates at the organisation’s 93rd General Assembly called for a “new compass” to guide global law enforcement.
Some 800 delegates from 179 countries gathered under the umbrella of the world police cooperation body to assess how international crime is changing and how policing must adapt.
Officials said crime is increasingly moving from a local phenomenon to a complex global industry, fuelled by digital technologies, conflict, and porous borders. Delegates highlighted the rise of transnational organised crime networks, cyber-enabled fraud, online child abuse, terrorism, arms trafficking and drug smuggling as areas that now demand faster, more integrated responses.
Mohamed Dakhmissi, president of Interpol’s Operational Affairs Committee, said the meeting focused on both strategic and operational reforms.
“We discussed many issues of strategic and security significance,” he said, noting that countries had stressed “the importance of information exchange and the arrest of involved individuals, along with developing security institutions and strengthening their capacities.”
Interpol officials reiterated that real-time data sharing is now central to effective policing. Delegates pushed for wider and more consistent use of Interpol’s global databases on wanted persons, stolen documents, firearms and biometric data, arguing that no country can tackle modern crime in isolation.
Beyond technology, the assembly also emphasised capacity building—from training investigators in digital forensics and financial crime, to helping weaker states develop basic investigative and border-control capabilities.
Participants agreed that future policing must be more collaborative, intelligence-driven and proactive, with crime prevention and early disruption of networks taking precedence over slow, reactive responses.
The resolutions and initiatives adopted at the 93rd General Assembly will guide Interpol’s operational priorities and support programmes over the coming years, as member states try to keep pace with a criminal landscape that delegates say is growing “faster, smarter and more international” than ever.
