LIST: What are Interpol notices?

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) is an organization that facilitates police cooperation among its 196 member states.

The agency issues color-coded notices or international requests for cooperation that allow police in member countries to share crime-related information.

What are these notices and what does each one do?

Red notice

According to Interpol, a red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person who is wanted by a requesting member country or an international tribunal pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

Interpol, however, clarified that this is not an international arrest warrant.

The public may view the red notices issued by Interpol in its website.

A total of 74,224 red notices remain valid as of December 2023.

Yellow notice

The Interpol said a yellow notice is a global police alert to help locate missing individuals.

“It is published for victims of parental abductions, criminal abductions (kidnappings) or unexplained disappearances,” Interpol said.

“The Yellow Notice can also be used to help identify a person who is unable to identify himself or herself,” it added.

Yellow notices may also be viewed through Interpol's website.

Data from Interpol shows that there are 16,394 valid yellow notices as of December 2023.

Blue notice

A blue notice seeks to collect information about a person’s identity, location, or activities, according to Interpol.

As of December 2023, a total of 18,179 blue notices remain valid.

Black notice

Interpol, meanwhile, said that a black notice seeks information on unidentified bodies.

A total of 2,237 black notices remain valid as of December 2023.

Other notices

There are also green notices, orange notices, and purple notices that seek to warn the public about certain individuals, events, or schemes, Interpol said.

• Green notices seek to provide warnings about a person’s activities. Interpol said that in this case, a person is considered a threat to public safety.
• Orange notices seek to warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.
• Purple notices seek to provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods by criminals.
• Interpol-United Nations Security Council Special Notice, which are issued for individuals or entities that are targets of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.

Who can request notices?

According to Interpol, the Interpol National Central Bureau of member countries may request notices. If approved, these will then be issued by the General Secretariat.

The General Secretariat may also issue notices at the request of International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court as well as the UN.

Interpol said a notice is only published if it complies with the Interpol’s Constitution and fulfills all conditions for processing the information.

“Most Notices are for police use only and are not available to the public,” Interpol said.

“However, an extract of the Notice can be published on this site if the requesting country wishes to alert the public or seek their help. All United Nations Special Notices are public,” it added. — BAP, GMA Integrated News