International Police Organization (IPO), based in Milano, Italy, is a multinational non-profit organization that uses education and research to develop theoretical and practical tools and raise awareness in security, law enforcement, and crisis management. It has chapters in twelve countries including Italy, Greece, Pakistan, Kenya,Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not to be confused with an older and larger International Police Association, an association of police force members.
History and Activities
The International Police Organization was founded in 2018, and since 2022 it has a special consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It states it aims to contribute to creating a safer community and a safer future by bringing together civilian professionals and security structures. It involves both civilian professionals and law enforcement in addressing security-related challenges.
The goal of creating theoretical and practical tools suggests that the organization is aiming to develop concrete, evidence-based solutions to address security issues. Its second congress was in Italy.
Criminologist Dr. Mareglan Tomori, the author of Against Bullying, is the organization's executive president. Professor and security expert Ilija Životić served as the organization's first president and is the honorary president.
Education and conferences are the organization's most notable activity, mostly through seminars conducted by its academy. It has organized scholarly conferences, roundtables, and events in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Among its experts are Lorcan Byrne, Irish security expert involved in the rescue of victims of the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, and logopedagogy and education expert Dr. Sebastjan Kristovič.
When a 13-year old shot ten children in the Belgrade school shooting, IPO chapters in Serbia and Montenegro called for increased education against bullying, prevention, detection of potential incidents, and school security.
The NBA player Goran Dragić, NHL player Anže Kopitar, basketball players Deanthony Langston, Zoran Dragić, Rašo Nesterović, and Edo Murić, were among those who donated in IPO humanitarian activities.
During the 2023 Slovenia floods, Slovenian IPO chapter organized a series of humanitarian activities and distributed over 415 tons of humanitarian aid (food, water, hygiene products and clothes). Slovenian former president Borut Pahor, the United States and United Kingdom ambassadors Jamie Linder Harpootlianin and Tiffany Sadler, Ljubljana mayor Zoran Janković, prime minister Robert Golob's partner Tina Gaber, and many famous Slovenians participated in or expressed support for IPO activities during and after the floods.
In October 2023, a daily Večer published a two-page feature article on the International Police Organization by a prominent Slovenian journalist and criminologist Dr. Damijana Žist.