A joint INTERPOL and European Union project to strengthen security across Jordan has provided frontline officers with direct access to INTERPOL’s policing capabilities.

Project Estijab, which means ‘‘response’’ in Arabic, saw the expansion of access to I-24/7, INTERPOL’s secure global police communications system to frontline officers, including at all 13 border points across the country, in order to assist Jordanian authorities in identifying and preventing security threats.

Law enforcement officers in the field can now conduct real-time queries of INTERPOL’s databases of wanted persons, Stolen and Lost Travel Documents and stolen motor vehicles.

Due to its location near to conflict zones in the Middle East, the expansion of access to INTERPOL’s databases at Jordan’s borders is critical to interdicting foreign terrorist fighters traveling to and from the region.

The nearly three-year project, which received EUR 500,000 in EU funding, culminated with the inauguration of the I-24/7 system at the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman on November 22.

The expanded access to I-24/7, which connects police in all of INTERPOL’s 190 member countries, improves the ability of the Jordanian authorities to exchange criminal information with their counterparts worldwide, boosting national, regional and global security.

INTERPOL’s SLTD database currently contains some 70 million records provided by 175 countries, making it an important tool in the global fight against transnational crime and terrorism, while countries have searched the database of wanted persons more than 750 million times this year.

Tim Morris, INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services, said: “The successful outcomes of this project will be valuable in assisting the national authorities to identify security threats and tackle organized crime and terrorist groups before they can cross borders.”