The Inspector General of Police, JM Okoth Ochola has lauded the Regional Police Chiefs for their immense contribution towards fighting crime in the region.
“These achievements (fighting crime) would not have been realized without the support of member countries. INTERPOL General Assembly and our cooperating partners,” Mr. Okoth Ochola made these remarks during the celebrations to mark 20 years of Eastern African Police Chiefs Cooperation Organization achievements at Khartoum, Sudan.
The Inspector General of Police said the Regional Police Chiefs have done a lot to see that their people in their respective countries live in a peaceful and stable environment.
Mr. Okoth Ochola said that the chiefs in the region have passed resolutions and made important decisions that created stable security and reduced crime in their countries.
For the past 20 years, some of the EAPCCO achievements include; passing resolutions aimed at addressing transnational organized crimes like Terrorism, Drug trafficking, Human trafficking and people smuggling, Environmental crimes, Cattle rustling, Financial crimes including money laundering, Cyber crime, Crimes against children, Trafficking in illicit arms and light weapons, and Trafficking in illicit counterfeit goods, conducting joint operation USALAMA in EAPPCO and SARPCCO regions targeting eight crime areas.
On the 19th Feb. 1998, the Chiefs of Police of Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles , Sudan , Tanzania and Uganda met in Kampala and decided to form an exclusive club for regional Police Chiefs with the sole purpose of working together to confront the challenges posed by transnational organized and cross boarder crimes, and EAPCCO was born.
Today the membership of EAPCCO stands at 14 with seven other countries having seen the benefits of regional law enforcement cooperation.
The history of international police cooperation dates back almost 100 years ago with the formation of INTERPOL whose membership now stands at 192 countries. Mr. Okoth Ochola said that although INTERPOL is the umbrella body for international law enforcement cooperation, there is need for regional cooperation with a focus on regional specific security issues and crime trends.
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