INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES
This paper responds to four central questions: (1) Why is it especially important toda
The author draws on his experiences as a sworn San Francisco police officer and former director of SFPD's Training Academy, as a participant in professional exchanges with police academies in Omsk, Russia, and Enkenbach, Germany, and as a teacher of comparative justice systems at Golden Gate University, San Francisco. Special thanks are due to Professor Ethan Nadelmann of Princeton University, on whose ideas and scholarship this paper draws heavily.
THE NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION
An Increasing Threat of Transnational Crime
The propensity of criminals to cross national borders--to engage in "transnational crime"-- is certainly not a new phenomenon; it is probably as old as the borders themselves. Borders were established to delineate the jurisdiction claimed by each state, and crossing national borders has often provided criminals with a way to mitigate or avoid the consequences of illegal acts. Yet in spite of a long, eventful history, there is strong evidence that transnational crime has become more prevalent and serious today than ever before.
Our Shrinking World 1
We live in a different world from that of our parents and grandparents, and many of the differences facilitate greater transnational crime. Consider, for example, the following five developments, all within the last twenty-five years: (1) Transportation systems have improved and expanded dramatically, particularly airline and automobile travel; international tourism and business travel are at record levels. (2) Communication systems have improved and expanded, most notably satellite and fiber optic telephone and television transmission, FAX transmission, and computer information storage, processing, and transmission. (3) The breakup of the Soviet Union has reduced or eliminated many trade and travel restrictions between East and West, reduced the level of social control within and between many of the former Soviet Block countries, and made obsolete many countries' Cold War fears and policies. (4) World trade has expanded, including stronger participation by the economies of Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the "Third World"; world economic interdependence is now a basic fact of life. (5) Perhaps most significant of all, the world's population has increased, resulting in more crowding, more areas of poverty, disease, and hunger, and large movements of people across national borders. The cumulative effect of these conditions is more people, more opportunities and possibly reasons for committing crime, and more effective movement of people and information across national borders--a perfect setup for increased transnational crime. It is no wonder that our newspapers now regularly report incidences of international terrorism, theft, smuggling, securities and currency violations, computer crimes, fleeing from justice, drug trafficking, and illegal immigration--just to name a few.
The Police Mission
A distinguishing feature of modern civilization is the use of governmental institutions-- police, courts, and correctional agencies --to intervene on society's behalf to resolve conflicts and enforce basic social rules.2 Such "state" justice, properly administered, is deemed superior to the earlier private "justice" that featured physical, often brutal and unrestrained, conflict between individuals, families, or tribes. A primary goal of state justice is to control social violence and destruction, and to protect the weak from victimization; however, if governments today, primarily through their police agencies, and to effectively protect citizens from crime and enforce society's rules, they must increasingly be able to deal with crime that is transnational in nature.
A second primary goal of state justice, salient to this paper, is the serving of each society's own dominant values and customs in the administration of "justice". Hence, each society has its own enforcement style and priorities, and even some of its own laws--factors that complicate and occasionally frustrate attempts at international police cooperation.
Overcoming the Limits of Jurisdiction
Transnational crime, by definition, involves two or more countries, each claiming sovereignty and exclusive criminal jurisdiction within its own borders. Hence, when a criminal crosses the border, any pursuing police officers "lose" their jurisdiction. To overcome this problem, governments and their police agencies have employed numerous strategies. Some involve direct, unilateral, extralegal police action within another country or official collusion to circumvent the law, and some involve cooperative, bilateral, legally-sanctioned actions by one country's police, or by a multinational police task force, on behalf of another country. The first of these two "kinds" of strategies is predicated on violating international law and other countries' sovereignty;3 the second is based on legality and cooperation.
Guiding Principles for Improvement
Given our experiences to date in policing transnational crime, two principles immediately suggest themselves for guiding our attempts to do better in the future. First, we should found our international police working relationships on properly negotiated agreements--that is, on mutual respect, benefit, and consent--rather than political or economic coercion, violation of foreign sovereignty, or extralegal collusion. Second, related to the first, is the achievement of greater consistency, effectiveness, predictability, and legitimacy in the relationships. These principles are admittedly idealistic and difficult to achieve, but they are worth keeping in mind and worth working for.
Specific Needs for Cooperation
From a practical police perspective, certain specific acts of international cooperation are regularly needed to deal with transnational crime. Initially, there is a need for discovering, documenting, and communicating basic working information about crimes; for example: What happened? When? Where? Description of suspects? Injuries? Next, there is a need for direct acts of investigative assistance; for example, locating and arresting suspects, collecting evidence, identifying and interviewing witnesses, and detaining and extraditing suspects. Finally, there is frequently a need for help in prosecution; for example, deposing witnesses or arranging for their appearance in court, having investigative personnel testify in court, and if a conviction occurs, providing the sentencing judge with background information about the suspect to guide the determination of an appropriate punishment.
Other forms of transnational police cooperation, less commonly recognized but potentially as important, include the sharing of law enforcement expertise, technology, and resources, the exchange of cultural information and philosophy,4 and the sharing of "off duty" social and recreational activities.5 These latter forms of cooperation offer potential benefits far beyond facilitating law enforcement's capacity to control crime.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS SUPPORTING EXPANDED COOPERATION
Ironically, perhaps, most of the contemporary world conditions that facilitate increased transnational crime, mentioned under "Our Shrinking World" above, also make possible greater international police cooperation. To these, we might add the following: (1) the advancement and spread of television, movies, and professional news media; (2) the commitment of many countries--the U.S. is a sad exception--to the teaching of second and third languages in school; and (3), as a cumulative result of the other conditions mentioned above, the development of a heightened "world consciousness" within law enforcement and among general populations throughout the world. Let us briefly consider each of these.
Television, Movies, and The News Media
The art of movie production has advanced and spread throughout the world, as have the technology and program production skills of the television industry. In many parts of the world, more households own TV sets than telephones. Likewise, professional news organizations-- that use newspaper, magazine, radio, and/or television media--have increased in size, budgets, and journalistic skills. Dedicated news networks like CNN, with large, Skilled international staffs and a deliberate international news focus, have made world news coverage available everywhere; and even small news companies can effectively access and pass along international news coverage by subscribing to an established "service" such as United Press International or Reuters. Limited international news coverage is even available now on the "Internet" for a modest subscription fee. Because of these contemporary developments, more people are now kept better informed about important daily events throughout the world such as natural disasters, political and economic developments, and major crimes. They are also exposed to foreign movies and television programs, both documentary and fictional, that help to establish common "knowledge", experiences, and meanings--perhaps the first step toward the development of a worldwide "low" or everyday culture. I have friends in Switzerland, for example, who used to watch the old (1980's) "Streets of San Francisco" TV program about fictional San Francisco police officers and criminals; and my police colleagues in Omsk, Russia, described their own organized crime and violence problems in 1993 as comparable to those of "Chicago in the 1930's". The point is that they "learned" about San Francisco's police and about Chicago's Mafia by watching translated television and "The Godfather" movie, and we had some common "experiences" to discuss and enjoy.
Commitment to Foreign Language Proficiency
A fundamental condition for people anywhere to live and work together is the ability to communicate efficiently; and for most of us, this means mastering a common spoken and written language. For many years, most of the world's nations have deliberately taught second and third languages, particularly the current "international" languages, French and English,6 at an early age in school, with impressive results. The U.S., while claiming to celebrate diversity, has lagged way behind.7 There are, of course, pecuniary reasons for teaching foreign languages, such as enhancing trade and tourism, but because so many countries have taken the trouble to do it, there is now a much greater capacity to communicate and perhaps cooperate internationally.
Heightened World Consciousness
Another important cumulative effect of the world conditions described above is the development of a heightened "world consciousness". By this, I mean that more people appear to be more mindful on a daily basis of what is going on in other countries, and to feel a personal concern for the outcome of international events. This is not to say that we have suddenly overcome all of our traditionally divisive, conflict-generating human feelings and attitudes, such as fear, hurt, jealousy, greed, cultural chauvinism, and the desire to boss others around. Our need for police officers and soldiers is likely to remain with us well into the future. However, what does seem to be emerging is a perhaps unspoken belief that we are all in this world together, and is spite of all the divisive forces at work in our lives, that we can all somehow live better if we cooperate, at least where transnational crime is concerned.
Admittedly, the existence or absence of such an emerging attitude cannot be empirically proved at this point; however, its development makes sense in light of the world conditions discussed above; and the apparent worldwide political popularity of "fighting international crime" provides supporting evidence.8
"Syncretism"
Would-be leaders such as athletic coaches, politicians, and labor officials have long employed the "syncretism" principle--that is, the threat of a common enemy and the focus of a shared goal--to unify and motivate groups of people. Transnational crime appears to be assuming the role of a common enemy to the whole world--similar, perhaps, to the role of the invading aliens in the science fiction movie "Independence Day", whose attack, in the movie's plot, resulted in unprecedented world unity and cooperation.
There are, of course, other common enemies currently out there threatening, and potentially unifying, our world. AIDS and other communicable disease epidemics, environmental pollution, poverty, and world hunger are familiar examples. These problems may compete to some degree with transnational crime for politicians' attention and limited world resources, but their main effect so far has been to facilitate greater world unity.
OBSTACLES TO GREATER INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION
How Cooperative Relationships Develop
International cooperative police relationships, when they have been successful, typically evolve according to a three-step process that Professor Ethan Nadelman has termed "harmonization": (1) regularization of relations; (2) accommodation of different systems to each other; and (3) harmonization toward a common norm.9 Stated more simply, this process features a trial and error "getting to know you" period, a period of making compromises and adjustments, and a period in which new hybrid policies and procedures become institutionalized.
Four Conditions for Success
Looking at the process by which successful international cooperative police relationships develop from a slightly different angle, four conditions must be present: (1) a perception shared by all of the participating parties of a serious, threatening crime problem; (2) the involvement of experienced career law enforcement personnel who help define the problem and propose practical solutions; (3) the involvement of political officials who formulate, enact, and defend enabling laws and budgetary support; and (4) regular communication between law enforcement professionals and political officials throughout the whole process. Whenever any of these conditions has been absent or flawed, consistent, effective, international police cooperation has not occurred.
Obstacles
From the above model, one can imagine possible obstacles to the presence of each essential condition. The first condition, a shared perception of a serious crime threat, enjoys the fewest serious obstacles in today's world.10 However, the second, getting career professionals involved in defining the problem and proposing solutions, is often frustrated by agency politics. Most of the world agencies in question contain many talented, experienced, conscientious practitioners--people who are doing the work and have invaluable practical knowledge. Unfortunately, public agencies often stifle such people from speaking out. Most U.S. law enforcement agencies, for example, have at least one level of top managers who are appointed more for political reasons than for their job accomplishments or job knowledge.11 Such "political executives" often feel threatened or embarrassed to rely on the expertise of subordinates. If we are to achieve effective performance at all, let alone in international cooperation, we must find ways to draw upon practical work expertise at all levels in the agencies.
The third condition, obtaining political support in each participating country, is absolutely essential to maintaining a working international relationship. All such relationships require legal authority to operate--enabling legislation or at least official permission--and the expenditure of money, personnel hours, and other agency resources. These requirements, of course, are the province of politicians. Politicians also play a critical role in organizing public support and taking any political "heat".
The three primary obstacles to obtaining needed political support, in most cases, boil down to these: (1) overcoming short- or long-term enmity and/or rivalry between countries; (2) convincing politicians12and their constituencies that change, with all its unknowns, inconveniences, and accompanying anxiety, from the familiar, comfortable status quo is needed; and (3) convincing politicians and their constituencies that building an effective international police relationship is important enough, considering other claims on their time and their countries' resources, to merit their prompt attention.
A fourth serious obstacle to attaining political support is the need to diplomatically work out fundamental differences in law enforcement style. Different countries, based on their respective histories and customs, have markedly different ideas about what constitutes "properly administered" state justice. For example, the U.S.'s Common Law tradition heavily emphasizes individual rights, due process of law, lawyer-intensive adversary proceedings, and the use of judicial precedents as a source of law. In contrast, most of Continental Europe follows the Civil Law tradition that emphasizes the interests of the community/state, informal, neutral, efficient inquisitorial proceedings, legislative superiority in declaring the law, and consistency of legal philosophy. Reconciling these disparate styles into a working cooperative relationship requires strong commitment, compromise, and the skillful "selling" of the final product to each political constituency. Most politicians, perhaps more commonly in the U.S. than in other countries, do not have direct diplomatic experience, are not comfortable in a diplomatic role, and are focused primarily on pleasing a local constituency. They are reluctant to get involved beyond giving vague lip service to projects that would take them into unfamiliar territory and perhaps offend many voters.
The fourth condition, maintaining regular lines of communication between law enforcement professionals and political officials across national borders, is vulnerable to all of the pitfalls that affect international communication generally--different time zones, different languages, unfamiliar or undependable equipment, and so forth. These obstacles can usually be overcome through determination, discipline, ingenuity, and patience. More specific to the needs of law enforcement and political communication, however, is the problem of knowing whom to call in other countries--the appropriate governmental contacts--and the appropriate protocol for communicating with them. 13
