WAPIS PROGRAMME. West African Police Information System. This Programme is funded by the European Union

1. Origin

4

2. What is WAPIS ?

5

3. Programme Roadmap

8

Phase 1: September 2012 – September 2013 8 Phase 2: October 2013 – April 2015 9 Phase 3: May 2015 – December 2020 9

4. Key Performance Indicators

10

5. Necessary steps to join the WAPIS programme 11

Contents

1. Origin

The idea to create a West African Police Information System (WAPIS) stemmed from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) member countries which expressed their concern over the spate of transnational organized crime and terrorism affecting the region. Security gaps at national, regional and international levels have in fact allowed West Africa to become a hub for crimes such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and global terrorism. Without effective information exchange and coordination among the regions law enforcement agencies, no enforcement strategy can defeat these threats.

In 2006, ECOWAS published a protocol for the establishment of a Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (CIIB) in view of supporting ECOWAS member countries in their fight against transnational organized crime.

In 2010, during a symposium in Brussels jointly organized by INTERPOL and the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, West African Chiefs of Police declared that, in order to meet the challenges facing the region, countries needed automated police information systems connected at the regional and global levels.

Following this common position, the European Union decided to grant funding to INTERPOL for the development and implementation of a police information system for ECOWAS member countries and Mauritania. The WAPIS Programme was born.

EU-INTERPOL Symposium on the external dimension of EU police co-operation in West African countries Brussels, Belgium

2. What is WAPIS ?

• National level: in each country, a scanning platform will be deployed to digitize

and archive existing paper police files, and an automated police information system will be installed centraly to facilitate the collection, centralization, management, sharing and analysis of police information.

• Regional level: an electronic police information-sharing platform will be

developed to enable ECOWAS member countries and Mauritania to share police data across West Africa, and contribute to the analysis of criminal trends affecting the region.

• Global level: police data in electronic format produced by law enforcement

agencies in West Africa could be shared internationally through INTERPOL’s secure global police communication system – I-24/7.

A police information system is more than an electronic database: it includes the processes and procedures through which police data are collected, administered, processed and accessed. In providing WAPIS countries with a national police

information system, the WAPIS Programme will support them in implementing all these aspects.

Futur electronic data processing Current paper police files

2.1 Overall objectives

The creation of a common police-information system across West Africa and with ECOWAS will allow the sharing of criminal information on a timely basis and greater law enforcement cooperation within the region and with the rest of the world in fighting transnational organized crime and terrorism.

• WAPIS will enable police officers in West African countries to access critical police information from their national criminal databases and from databases of countries across the region, thus improving the identification of criminals and supporting ongoing investigations.

• WAPIS will enable better analysis of the problems of transnational organized crime and terrorism facing the region. Generally, it will allow a better understanding of crime originating in, coming from and transiting through West Africa.

• WAPIS will allow greater police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters within the region, the European Union and the rest of the world.

Overall, the full implementation of the WAPIS Programme will support the efforts of national authorities and ECOWAS in improving the security of citizens in West Africa and around the world.

2.2 Main stakeholders

• The European Union is funding 100 per cent of the programme.

• INTERPOL is implementing the programme, including through the support of its Regional Bureau for West Africa, located in Abidjan.

• ECOWAS is a strategic implementation partner of the programme. ECOWAS provides major political support to WAPIS within the appropriate legal framework, and its Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau (CIIB) – when operational – will be a key beneficiary of the regional police information-sharing platform. • The West African Police Chiefs Committee (WAPCCO) is the region’s prime law

enforcement body and, as such, a key implementation partner.

• Law enforcement agencies (police, gendarmerie, customs, immigration) across the region will be the direct beneficiaries of the programme.

• Police authorities from INTERPOL’s other member countries will be indirect beneficiaries of the programme, including the 28 European Union member states and EU agencies such as Europol and Frontex.

Opening of the WAPIS office within ECOWAS Abuja, Nigeria, 22 January 2014

2.3 Programme values

The commitment of the European Union, INTERPOL and ECOWAS to fundamental human rights is at the heart of the WAPIS Programme. Information to be entered in the WAPIS system should comply with international data protection and human rights standards.

2.4 Legal requirements

Countries engaging in the WAPIS Programme will be required to comply with regional and international standards and legal prerequisites guaranteeing the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, including:

• Internationally recognized principles;

• ECOWAS Supplementary Act /SA. 1/01/10 on personal data protection (for ECOWAS member countries);

• INTERPOL’s Rules on the Processing of Data.

Police Data Record that will be incorporated in the WAPIS System for the enhancement of the database

WAPIS meeting (ICT), June 2013, Abidjan, INTERPOL Regional Bureau

3. Programme Roadmap

The WAPIS Programme will be deployed in three phases:

Phase 1: September 2012 – September 2013

The WAPIS Programme will begin operations by working with five pilot countries (Benin, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and Niger).

• Pilot countries will define the scope and technical structure of information to be shared via WAPIS.

• Pilot countries will be supported in the creation of WAPIS National Committees (WANACO).

• Pilot countries will define a training strategy.

• A WAPIS Master Plan will be produced to define the implementation of the programme in Phases 2 and 3.

The WAPIS National Committee (WANACO) is the national body responsible for overseeing and monitoring the implementation of WAPIS at national level. Each country will need to set up and manage its own WANACO, composed of officials from national law enforcement agencies.

The governance and internal structure of the committee should be made official and a budget line should be allocated to ensure that it functions properly.

Phase 2: October 2013 – April 2015

The implementation of the programme starts in the five pilot countries.

Archiving stations (hardware and software) will be set up in selected law enforcement agencies of the pilot countries and appropriate training provided in order to convert existing police paper files into electronic data.

A legal framework will be discussed and adopted by the pilot countries in order to ensure that the programme implementation complies with regional and international human rights standards.

A minimal level of data standardization will be agreed among WAPIS countries in order to allow harmonious data exchange between WAPIS countries through the future regional information-sharing platform.

Data Collection Registration Centres (DACORE) will be created in each pilot country. The automated police information systems will be fully developed, on the lines of the existing integrated crime-management system in Benin, and implemented in the five pilot countries, thereby initiating the electronic processing of police and appropriate judicial documents

The DACORE is the national body composed of representatives from national law enforcement agencies that will oversee the day-to-day use of the WAPIS system at the national and regional levels. Each country will need to set up its own DACORE (except for Benin, where a DACORE is already established) and its governance, internal structure and all operational decisions identified and implemented by national decree. A yearly budget should to be allocated to guarantee the sustainability of WAPIS.

Phase 3: May 2015 – December 2020

Building on the pilot phase, the WAPIS Programme will move into the full implementation phase :

• WANACOs, DACOREs and national criminal databases will be created in all remaining WAPIS countries.

• The regional information sharing platform will be developed and launched. • Operational and technical training will be provided to all countries to assist in

defining and implementing national training strategies.

• Management support will be provided to accompany managers through the challenges they will face in implementing WAPIS.

• Final handover will be made to all WAPIS countries and ECOWAS.

4. Key Performance

Indicators

WANACOs will in priority ensure the relevance of police data recorded in the WAPIS system in relation to the system’s purposes. In quantitative terms, WANACOs will use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor the adoption and implementation of WAPIS. The KPIs will include:

• Percentage of paper files (WAPIS forms, police reports, judiciary identity files) recorded and archived in the national system;

• Number of workstations in the national system; • Total number of users;

• Number of entities and criminal events recorded in the INTERPOL’s criminal information system originating from West Africa;

• Number of system searches;

• Number of Red Notices for wanted persons requested by West African countries.

Archiving station provided by the WAPIS programme Paper files in Ghana

5. Necessary steps to join

the WAPIS programme

Countries willing to join the WAPIS Programme must: • Designate a point of contact at the appropriate level;

• Establish a WANACO composed of representatives from the country’s pertinent law enforcement agencies;

• Make available an appropriate space for holding WANACO meetings;

• Identify, prepare and make available an appropriate space for the e-archiving stations within designated law enforcement agencies;

• Identify, prepare and make available an appropriate space for the DACORE; • Ensure that national legislation complies with internationally recognized data

protection standards.

OIPC ICPO INTERPOL

WAPIS PROGRAMME

Programme funded by the European Union

Programme financé par l’Union européenne

Office of the Special Representative of INTERPOL to the European Union. WAPIS Programme

Av. de Cortenberg, 120, 1000 Brussels, Belgium infoWAPIS-SIPAO@interpol.int

This Programme is funded by the European Union