As police leaders and officers around the globe know, transnational crime is of monumental importance in today’s criminal landscape. Drugs and their precursors originate from their source countries and reach their final destinations worldwide via international transit routes and major transit ports. Human traffickers smuggle their victims along life-threatening routes to countries where they promise them heaven on earth. The financial profits of such transnational criminal activities are transferred across the world in a fraction of a second, often through countries where financial account monitoring is more challenging or via modern underground banking systems.

In addition, in recent years, society has increasingly been confronted with international terrorism, where financial gain is not necessarily the primary goal. Instead, the aim is to use or threaten violence in order to intimidate the population or a segment of it or to unlawfully force a government or an international organization to take—or refrain from taking—specific actions.

The international nature of terrorism is not complicated to understand—certain extremist ideologies from one country are easily spread worldwide, for example, via social media, often with encryption that the police and judiciary cannot access, even with a court order. Funds, often obtained and transferred legally, find their way to terrorists in other parts of the world to finance their violent illegal activities. Weapons and explosives from past war zones, including biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear agents, enter the black market and end up in the hands of terrorists. Conflicts between population groups in one part of the world are fought out between the same groups in other countries. Like-minded “foreign terrorist fighters” attempt to leave their home countries to join armed conflicts elsewhere, only to return even more radicalized and often under false identities. Given this international dimension, it may seem that only federal agencies and international organizations play important roles in combating international terrorism. However, the importance of local police actors in protecting the population from these horrific acts of international terrorism cannot be overstated.

The Crucial Role of Local Policing in the Fight Against International Terrorism

Community Outreach and Engagement Principles

Effective community policing also provides the necessary eyes and ears on the ground: Who lives in the area? Are there residents displaying signs of radicalization? Have individuals who were previously radicalizing disappeared? If so, where did they go and with whom? The line between freedom of speech—which must be protected—and indicators of radicalization is sometimes razor-thin. Other resources available from the IACP Committee on Terrorism, such as “Radicalization 101,” “Foreign Fighters,” and “Lone Terrorists,” highlight the link between the local and international levels for this phenomenon. The members of the IACP Committee on Terrorism, which include local, state, federal, and international agencies, stay updated on the latest trends and keep IACP members informed through multiple channels. Be sure to check the IACP website for new or updated resources.

International Cooperation: Crucial at All Levels

While international police and judicial cooperation is becoming increasingly critical in the fight against international terrorism and transnational organized crime, it is less clear as to whether enough attention is given to this cooperation in  police training. Can police leaders be certain that their colleagues fully understand the possibilities for international police cooperation? Do they know which channels are available for international information exchange? Are requests to foreign agencies dismissed too quickly as being “too complicated” or “unlikely to get a response”? This idea is false; there are ample channels for international information exchange to obtain quick and efficient responses. However, this topic deserves greater focus in police training.

“Mapping out financial flows from a suspect in one country to like-minded individuals abroad can help financial investigators uncover entire networks.”

The quickest route to international cooperation and communication is undoubtedly through bilateral liaison officers. When requesting information from abroad, it is advisable to check whether the country has a liaison officer, typically stationed at an embassy or consulate. These officers understand their country’s legislation and organizational structure; have direct communication lines with their headquarters; and can handle urgent, complex, and confidential inquiries. In Washington, DC, alone, there are more than 100 liaison officers from over 50 countries to facilitate international information exchange on terrorism and transnational crime.

In addition to direct bilateral information exchange, there are also multinational organizations that can be consulted through their own national contact points with INTERPOL, of course, being the largest international police organization with no fewer than 196 member states, each with its own National Central Bureau, all connected via an encrypted 24/7 network. An additional tool supporting all police services are the 19 different databases that INTERPOL makes available to its member states, including databases with notices and diffusions of wanted terrorists, stolen and lost travel documents, biometrics, and other relevant information. It goes without saying that it is extremely important to feed these databases with data from national investigations, but also to integrate these databases as much as possible into the daily operations of the police organization, so that, for example, a known terrorist will immediately be identified during routine checks, traffic stops, or border controls.

Furthermore, there are regional cooperation networks such as Europol, AFRIPOL, Ameripol, ASEANAPOL, and the GCCPOL, each with its own unique dynamics and strengths, yet all sharing the same goal: facilitating collaboration in the fight against international terrorism and transnational organized crime.

Terrorist Travelers: The Importance of International Biometric Information Sharing

Of course, databases are only as strong as the input provided by member states. In this context, the IACP Committee on Terrorism emphasized through one of its IACP resolutions the importance of sharing biometrics—fingerprints, DNA, and/or pictures—both nationally and internationally. After all, international terrorists traveling from one country to another often do so under false identities, using fraudulent documents. However, their biometrics remain the same. This underscores the importance of sharing biometric data with as many countries as possible, for example, via INTERPOL.

An additional point of focus should be the sharing of biometric data of convicted terrorists. Once a convicted terrorist has served their sentence and is released, it cannot be ruled out that they may still embrace the ideology that originally spurred their terrorist acts—possibly even more extremely than before—and may seek to continue their violent activities under a different name. This highlights the importance of sharing biometric data of apprehended and even previously convicted terrorists, within the legal possibilities of national laws.

Financing Terrorism: An Underestimated Tool for Identifying International Terrorists

Two common misconceptions are that manufacturing an explosive device costs nothing and that the fight against terrorist financing is a waste of effort. Nothing could be further from the truth. While it is correct that making explosives requires little money, maintaining the logistics behind terrorist organizations is extremely expensive. At its peak, the so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria was believed to have had access to more than 500 million USD.

For police agencies, it is particularly challenging to prove that specific financial transactions were used to fund a particular international terrorist act. However, mapping out financial flows from a suspect in one country to like-minded individuals abroad can help financial investigators uncover entire networks. Therefore, it is highly recommended that every terrorism case includes not only terrorism experts but also financial investigators to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the network.

Additionally, international operational police networks, such as the International Association of Financial Crime Investigators, continuously demonstrate their value in the fight against international financial fraud as well as terrorist financing.

The Use of Social Media in International Terrorism

Just like in all other forms of transnational organized crime, terrorists communicate with each other through online platforms. Encryption and legal obstacles, such as restrictions on data retention, make it difficult for police agencies to gain insight into these communications, which can be crucial to investigations into international terrorism.

Many of the platforms used by terrorists for communication are based abroad, which often discourages investigators from pursuing these leads further. However, every country has different legislation, and some legal frameworks may even offer investigative opportunities that are not widely known. Once the communication platform has been identified, it is essential to contact colleagues in the country concerned (e.g., through bilateral liaison officers or IACP contacts) to explore available options, such as freezing the data, as quickly as possible.

Additionally, efforts should be made to identify unknown social media accounts based on previous investigations in another country. Such findings could serve as valuable leads for investigations in both jurisdictions.

Conclusion

Just like in other forms of transnational organized crime, knowledge of international police cooperation is crucial in the fight against international terrorism—alongside a solid understanding of the phenomenon itself, of course. Whether it involves sharing identities, biometrics, social media accounts, financial transactions, or weapons data, international police cooperation is key. The communication channels for international police collaboration exist to assist all investigators, whether from local, state, or federal agencies. It is up to each of us to make full use of them. d

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Please cite as

Patrick Stevens, “Borderless Collaboration: Mobilizing International Networks to Combat Terrorism and Transnational Crime,” Police Chief Online, September 10, 2025.