Criminology

International policing is a form of cooperation among many countries with the main aim being to safeguard the security interests of the various partner countries. International policing has been implemented fro many years especially after individual countries realized that it was somewhat difficult to manage all their borders solely. This paper looks at boundaries of international policing, to what extent it is applicable and how it can be applied an organizational setting (Daniel. 2001).

International policing plays a key role in the prevention and control of international crimes like drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal immigration, incidents of terrorism and other crimes that take place across borders. International policing has thus been justified by the dire need to control the overwhelming cases of crime in the international arena (Hilary. 2005).

There are three main forms of international policing that are widely recognized and implemented the world over. The first one is where societies organize themselves in such manner that goes beyond the local boundaries of the country. This usually comes about as a result of influence from economical and political changes. The second form of international policing is whereby police officers in their capacity as police officers while on duty in transnational activities. It could be on an intelligence or investigative duty. The third category is institutions of police officers in various countries collaborate with officers from another country. These collaborations bring about unions which may be permanent or temporary depending on the purpose of their formation (Mathieu. 2010).

Looking at the concept of international policing through the years, it has been observed that police officers prefer working on their own on a unilateral basis without having to collaborate with other officers from foreign countries. This means that transnational policing still remains the most popular form of international policing in the police force. It has also been noted that collaboration among police officers at the international level is quite limited and is only used when need arises. Thirdly is that any time police officers in different countries engage in collaborative measures no permanent forces are formed. Instead communication and exchange of information among the various organizations of police are done through headquarters and use of technology to relay information from one center to another (Beth. 2009).

Some of the key issues that make international policing effective is the development of a society in terms of organizational policing and making crime a matter of international interest. International policing can also be applied in an organizational context. For example one department of an organization say, the finance department can collaborate with the procurement of the organization for the harmonious and smooth running of the organization. Similarly one department of an organization can collaborate with another department of another organization for the best interest of both organizations (Daniel. 2001).

Despite the various challenges that international policing has faced over the years, it is slowly emerging to be one of the best ways of ensuring security across border. Various countries have to come to accept that it is difficult to be self sufficient when it comes security especially at the borders (Mathieu. 2010). It is only through international policing that crimes like drug trafficking, trafficking of human beings, acts of terrorism and cases of illegal immigration can come to an end. All countries must therefore embrace international policing as it is the only way out in combating transnational crimes.