ABSTRACT
The demand for international cooperation between national police services has become very clear in an environment ridden with anxiety about security challenges such as terrorism, arms and drug-trafficking, cyber crime or corruption. The globalization process that opened up so many channels for transnational criminal activity and the recent terrorist attacks in the US, Spain and Bali, to name the most recent, exacerbated the perception that the threats are numerous, varied and destabilizing. The various treaties adopted to fight transnational crime (TC) stipulate the adaptation of law enforcement apparatus as the best way to increase the risk of conducting criminal activity. The demand for enhanced cooperation, information exchange on the personal data files of suspected individuals and the build-up of new surveillance technology is continually reaffirmed, and states increasingly see the international collaboration of police services as the answer to the internationalization of crime. However, national law enforcement authorities are traditionally reluctant to share information and delegate the analysis of intelligence outside the state.
