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János Sallai - Judit Borszéki

The beginnings of international police cooperation

The beginnings of international police cooperation

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study is to present the initial process of international police cooperation, with particular reference to the events that took place in Europe and with Hungarian participation.
Methodology: The paper approaches the subject indicated in the title from several aspects. It describes the events of international police cooperation between 1869 and 1938 by examining reports published in Hungarian police journals of the period, including the accounts of prominent contemporary representatives of police sciences, and compares them with the assessment of the period in 21st century written on the subject in English. Finally, it details the history of Finnish-Hungarian police cooperation in the period before the World War II., which is a good example of the efforts made by the then Hungarian police to establish bilateral co-operation with friendly countries.
Findings: While contemporary accounts understandably focus on the events and their immediate causes, 21st century analyses have a historical perspective of the professional, historical and political factors that made international cooperation necessary and possible and of those that hindered its development.
Value: All the sources agree on the conclusion – also undisputed today – that at a certain point of historical-technical development, the global emergence of cross-border crime and the changes in the modi operandi make it necessary to implement international cooperation among police forces (including the exchange of experience and intelligence and the establishment of the appropriate organisations).

Keywords

law enforcement, international crime, international cooperation, International Criminal Police Commission
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