International Cooperation
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International Cooperation

In recent years, developments in the area of crime have increasingly taken the form of cross-border crime. It is therefore necessary for the Danish police to cooperate with police forces throughout the world, both through direct contact and through established organisations like Europol and Interpol.

In addition, several Danish liaison offi cers are posted abroad for short or long periods of time if the police need to have direct contact with the authorities in the countries concerned.

Nordic Police and Customs Cooperation
This cooperation was established in 1984 and was directed solely at combating drug-related crime. However, cross-border crime has also affected the Nordic countries, which means that since 1996 the Nordic Police and Customs Cooperation includes practically all types of crime.
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Baltic Sea Region
Cooperation in the Region takes place within the framework of Task Force on Organised Crime in the Baltic Sea Region, which was set up in 1996. Since then, it has developed a so-called Operative Committee, which coordinates and implements joint operations in order to combat organised crime.
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Europol
Europol, which was launched in 1999, is a European police organisation with partici-pants from the EU Member States.The objective is to promote cooperation among police authorities in the Member States in order to achieve maximum effec-tiveness with regard to the prevention of and fi ght against serious crime such as terrorism and drug traffi cking.The Danish National Police is in charge of com-munication with Europol, whose headquarters is situated in the Haag, the Netherlands.
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Schengen Cooperation
In 2001, Denmark entered the Schengen cooperation, the objective of which is, among other things, to make it possible for citizens in the Schengen countries to travel freely within the Schengen area without having to produce a passport. It has implied that the police forces of the countries are to cooperate in order to enable them to intensify the fi ght against cross-border crime. In Denmark, the police are in charge of passport controls.
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Peace-keeping Missions

The Danish police have a long history of active involvement in the area of peacekeep-ing activity. The fi rst Danish police offi cers were posted to Cyprus on a peacekeeping mission in the period 1964-1974.

In 1992, in connection with the unrest in ex-Yugoslavia, there was again a need for posting Danish police offi cers abroad on peacekeeping missions.

Since then, approximately 50-75 police officers have constantly participated in various missions throughout the world, for example in ex-Yugoslavia, the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.

The tasks of the police in connection with these missions, which most of them are under the mandate of the UN, the EU or the OSCE, are to supervise and report any assaults on or atrocities committed against the civilian population, as well as to advise and train the police in the country concerned in democratic legal principles and human rights.
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Interpol
Interpol is the largest international police organisation in the world. The organisation was established in 1923 for the purpose of preventing and combating international crime. The headquarters of Interpol is situated in Lyons in France.

Every one of the 186 member countries has a National Central Bureau (NCB). The Dan-ish NCB is placed with the Danish National Police, which handles contact with Danish authorities, the NCBs of other countries and Interpol headquarters.
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Liaison officers
Denmark has a number of police offi cers stationed in selected countries throughout the world. They are called liaison offi cers and are engaged, among other things, in investigations into cross-border crime such as human traffi cking, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. In case of disasters or catastrophes involving Danes, the Danish police officer in the country in question may also render assistance as the representative of Denmark.

Liaison officers are posted abroad in connec-tion with activities conducted under the Nordic Police and Customs Cooperation, activities relating to the area of aliens of the National Police and relating to the National Centre of Investigation (NEC) of the National Police. 
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Last Modified: 17. august 2007
 
Printed on:
19-03-2010