Historical Overview

In times far removed from today’s awareness of “globalisation”, the insight that crime was not limited to a specific territory and that, on the contrary, mobility made it possible to easily elude controls by national police forces, led Prince Albert I of Monaco to convene the “First International Conference of Criminal Police” in April 1914.

Great ideas are born out of a state of need. In this case, it was the frustration of the Prince of Monaco who, having been robbed by his lover, realised that it would be impossible to pursue her legally because she had fled to Italy together with her accomplice.

For the first time, visionary police officers from 24 countries and several continents came together representating Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Persia, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.