How does INTERPOL actually operate?
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The movie/TV show depiction of Interpol doesn’t have any basis in reality.
All the real Interpol does is to maintain a database. Basically, if you’re a law enforcement organization and you have a warrant for someone’s arrest, but think they’ve fled to another country, then you can put that warrant into Interpol’s database.
Since most countries’ immigration authority checks people coming across their border against that database, people on that database get flagged when they try to cross a border. Its then up to the individual country to make a determination as to whether they want to do anything with the individual or not.
The process for getting a warrant into Interpol’s database is complex and the vast majority of Interpol employees are basically just customer service representatives who walk members of law enforcement through that process. The remainder are server engineers who keep the database running and help other law enforcement agencies tap into it.
Other than entering and removing warrants from their database and occasionally holding conferences, Interpol doesn’t really do much else.
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