About Us

Our Vision

At INIOP, our vision is a simple one - to champion the effective independent oversight of policing around the world. INIOP is a virtual network, built for organisations who oversee police and law enforcement officials. With this new website we have created a platform for oversight bodies to come together, to share learning, experiences and good practice. We hope you find this website useful. If you are interested in finding out more about INIOP and its work, please contact a member of the Secretariat team for more information.

Our History

In October 2005 representatives from a number of independent oversight organisations from Canada, the USA, Great Britain and Northern Ireland met at a conference in Montreal and discussed the creation of an international network for organisations involved in police oversight.  There had been International Association for the Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (IACOLE) previously, but this had been wound up some years before.  This group set out a number of basic principles and objectives for international co-operation and agreed to meet again to take these forward. 

The group met again in May and then in October 2006 to develop their thinking. On the 23 March 2007 the INIOP steering group met formally for the first time to begin work on the development of the network.

Supporters

INIOP is grateful for the support of the steering group members and individual networks, for investing their time, energy and resources to champion and support its development. In particular INIOP is grateful for the support of the following networks: the Canadian Association for the Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (CACOLE), the National Association for the Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), working in the United States, the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF) and the European Partners Against Corruption (EPAC).

The Future

For the immediate future INIOP's main priority is to establish itself as a virtual forum for oversight agencies and practitioners to share learning and good practice. An important part of this is to identify where oversight agencies are currently working around the world, and to begin engagement with them. In the longer term it is hoped that the expertise of INIOP members can be utilised to help support the creation and development of oversight agencies around the world. The agencies we've identified to date are listed in the our new Oversight Agency Directory (unfortunately this is only available to registered members).

Join the network

It is currently free to join the network. You can register online to become a member.