AMERIPOL: searching for greater police integration in Latin America

Current public security challenges in Latin America require regional cooperation, as these challenges affect the entire region rather than individual countries only. Thus police action in Latin America demands a higher degree of integration, and immediate international approach. In this context, the creation of the American Police Community – Ameripol – to coordinate the efforts of national police forces in the Latin American region is timely. Ameripol aims to promote technical and scientific cooperation, the exchange of strategic and operational intelligence data, the promotion of education and training, and the consolidation of a doctrine and a policing philosophy coherent between the regional police institutions.

Ameripol was created in 2007, during the III Meeting of Latin American Commanders, Directors and Chiefs of Police of Latin America and the Caribbean. Initially its statute was signed by fifteen countries:

Argentina - Gendarmería Nacional Argentina.
Bolivia - Policía Boliviana.
Brazil - Departamento de Polícia Federal.
Chile - Carabineiros do Chile.
Colombia - Policía Nacional de los Colombianos.
Costa Rica - Fuerza Publica.
Cuba - Policía Nacional Revolucionaria.
Ecuador - Policía Nacional del Ecuador.
El Salvador - Policía Nacional Civil.
Guatemala - Policía Nacional Civil Guatemala.
Mexico - Policía del Distrito Federal.
Paraguay - Policía Nacional del Paraguay.
Peru - Policía Nacional del Peru.
Dominican Republic - Policía Nacional da República Dominicana.
Uruguay - Policía Nacional do Uruguay.

During the following year, Honduras, Nicaragua, Haiti, Jamaica and Panama also joined the Community.

Ameripol’s Statute also allows countries, multilateral organisms and organisations to participate as observing members in the Community.

In order to promote a better interaction among the Ameripol members, commissions were created focused in different aspects and areas of the international organised crime. Each commission is formed by a number of member countries and two observing institutions.

Ameripol was created with the following goals:

- To be a mechanism of police cooperation, integrated and coordinated;
- Promoting and strengthening police cooperation in technical and scientific matters, as well as the training and the police doctrine;
- Making more dynamic the intelligence information exchange;
- Coordinating and strengthening the developed actions of criminal investigation and judicial assistance between police institutions or equivalents in its member countries.

Ameripol works for the consolidation of the police doctrine and philosophy in preventing and neutralizing crimes in the region. Furthermore, Ameripol constitutes an organism for regional consultation and support to relate its members with the other police communities in the world.

Re-elected every two years, its presidency is occupied, at the moment, by the Chilean government. The Executive Secretariat is located in Colombia until 2010, and is to be re-elected every 3 years.

During its initial phase, Ameripol consolidated itself as an institution, establishing its mission, structure and functioning through the agreements that created the community. At present, Ameripol is in a stage of recognizing the police forces available in each member countries, as well as the preparation of joint works. Its members are currently working to integrate the distinct police bodies and organisations with the common purpose of promoting security, citizenship and harmonic relations between the Latin American people and their police.