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{{trope}}
In reality, the International Criminal Police Organization --— the ICPO or Interpol --— acts as liaison among the national police forces of member companies, maintains a database on international criminals, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and writes those "pirating this movie is illegal" messages/PSA's]] that get removed in the pirated versions of films anyway. In other words, they don't do any direct investigation or prosecution themselves; they simply facilitate communication between agencies in different countries.
 
In ''fiction'', Interpol acts more like [[The Man Fromfrom UNCLEU.N.C.L.E.|UNCLEU.N.C.L.E.]] and sends agents (normally solo), who somehow have full power over local police, out to track down and capture international criminals. One reason for this trope is that [[Small Reference Pools|everyone knows Interpol is "international police"]] and it avoids the need to create a group wholesale, even if that means fudging what they actually do.
{{examples}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
* [[Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist|Inspector Zenigata]] of ''[[Lupin the ThirdIII]]'' is said to be an agent of Interpol. The local cops seem pretty uncaring of what he asks them to do, though.
** More, he has police forces under his command.
* In ''[[Daitarn 3]]'', Reika Sanjo is an ex-Interpol agent.
* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]]'', Tomo is a big fan of ''[[Lupin III (Manga)|Lupin III]]'', and her dream is to be an Interpol agent. Given that Tomo is a moron, it's more like she believes this trope than that show itself does.
** Considering she has to be told that ICPO and Interpol are the same agency, this may be an in-universe case of [[Did Not Do the Research]]. (Considering her usual test scores, it's easy to believe Tomo never does the research.)
* ''[[Giant Robo]]: The Animation'' had the superpoweredsuper-powered "Experts of Justice" as ICPO agents. Yes, Interpol basically had the [[Justice League of America]] on its payroll here.
* Portrayed more accurately in ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]''; Interpol are seen near the beginning as a group of police representatives from various different nations discussing the recent spate of deaths of renowned criminals and forming a consensus of whether or not they should contact L, and once L demonstrates that the perpetrator is based out of Japan the case is entirely within the jurisdiction of the N.P.A. (albeit with L calling on resources from the F.B.I. at one point).
 
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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* Christine St. Clair from DC 1970s ''Manhunter'' strip.
 
== FanfictionFan Works ==
* ''[[Interpol Manzai]]'' is premised on the idea of sending two of the [[Azumanga Daioh]] cast out as Interpol Special Agents. Much like Tomo's idol, [[Inspector Zenigata]], they don't have full authority; they must work under the auspices of the local police to have any capacity as a law enforcement officer.
* In the ''[[Saga of Tanya the Evil]]'' fic, ''[[A Young Girl's Delinquency Record]]'', Interpol was created to solve the case of the disappearance of Tanya Degurachuff. Pretty much [[Everyone Is a Suspect|every country had a reason to abduct her]]. As readers of the fan fic would know, Tanya's supporters got her out without knowledge (let alone approval) of high ranking government officials. Interpol has no more authority in a country it is operating in than the hosting country permits. In the case of the disappearance of Tanya, each country legitimately thinks they have nothing to hide in the matter, and also wants to look innocent, and pull back down whatever country is presumably getting ahead by holding Tanya, so they to a large extent are willing to co-operate in that investigation.
 
== Film ==
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== Literature ==
* There's a friendly Interpol officer whom [[Tom Swift]] Jr. summons from time to time to arrest international bad guys; apparently they're out of the local cops' jurisdiction [[Hand Wave|somehow]].
* Alistair MacLean wrote at least one book, ''Puppet On a Chain'', in which the hero was an Interpol agent.
* Emily Pollifax meets a few in the ''[[Mrs. Pollifax (franchise)|Mrs. Pollifax]]'' series:
** In ''A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax'', [[Gentleman Thief]] Robin Burke-Jones is [[Recruiting the Criminal|recruited by Interpol]] at the end.
** Robin later reappears as an Interpol agent in ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong King Buddha''; unlike the usual fictional agent he has a partner and backup.
** {{spoiler|Signore Ambrose Vica}} in ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief'' surprises everyone when he reveals that, while not ''exactly'' an Interpol agent, he works closely with them.
 
== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Leverage (TV)|Leverage]]'', Interpol has enough prestige that a fairly senior insurance executive can become an agent and consider it a step up in his career. [[Word of God]] [http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2010/05/leverage-214-215-post-game.html says], "Interpol in the Leverage-verse is not this world's Interpol. It is, basically, [[Marvel Universe|SHIELD]]. Or maybe [[The Man Fromfrom UNCLEU.N.C.L.E.|UNCLE]]. It's the law-enforcement all-star team."
* 1970s ITC Entertainment series ''[[Department S]]'' featured three Interpol agents (and their jet-setting diplomat boss) who solved "impossible" crimes.
* One episode of ''[[Remington Steele (TV)|Remington Steele]]'' guest-starred [[Tom Baker]] (of ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' fame) as an Interpol agent whose investigations intersected Remington Steele's Case of the Week.
* Special Agent Emily Prentiss of ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]'' is a former Interpol undercover operative.
* In [[Psych]], Desperaux poses as one of these -- hethese—he's not really stealing valuables, he's working undercover to recover them. The show leaves it open as to whether he was truly an agent; the only sure thing is that Guster's plans to visit to Pottercon were ruined as they got [[Busman's Holiday| dragged into another mystery]].
 
== Video Games ==
* Such an agent is featured in ''[[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Ace Attorney]]'''s fourth game as {{spoiler|the victim of one case}}.
** ''Investigations'' runs away with the trope, not only making {{spoiler|''another'' victim out of one}}, but featuring one as a major character.
* Carmelita Fox of ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' is an Interpol agent.
* Looker of ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl (Video Game)|Pokémon Platinum]]'' {{spoiler|and ''[[Pokémon Black and White (Video Game)|Black and White]]''}}, as well as a minor NPC on the ''SS Anne'' in ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue (Video Game)|Pokémon Red and Blue]]'', work for the [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|not-Interpol]] [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|"International Police"]] and both are going after the game's evil team. As the only other cops in this series do nothing but attack kids up past 6 p.m., though, it's a huge step up.
** Looker remains a pretty impressive agent of the police force no matter how you look at it, given the only other police who actually fight crime (besides him and that minor NPC) happen to be the [[Pokémon Ranger (Video Game)|Ranger Corps]]. [[Fridge Horror|Still makes you wonder why there's no word of their involvement in]] [[Pokémon Colosseum (Video Game)|another region, however...]]
* [[Street Fighter|Chun-Li]] is an Interpol agent who fights crime by personally kicking the crap out of crime lords.
 
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[[Category:Did Not Do the Research]]
[[Category:Cops and Detectives]]
[[Category:Interpol Special Agent{{PAGENAME}}]]
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