<P> To keep Interpol as politically neutral as possible, its charter forbids it, at least in theory, from undertaking interventions or activities of a political, military, religious, or racial nature or involving itself in disputes over such matters . Its work focuses primarily on public safety and battling transnational crimes against humanity, child pornography, cybercrime, drug trafficking, environmental crime, genocide, human trafficking, illicit drug production, piracy, illicit traffic in works of art, intellectual property crime, money laundering, organized crime, corruption, terrorism, war crimes, weapons smuggling, and white - collar crime . </P> <P> In the first part of the 20th century, several efforts were taken to formalize international police cooperation, but they initially failed . Among these efforts were the First International Criminal Police Congress in Monaco in 1914, and the International Police Conference in New York in 1922 . The Monaco Congress failed because it was organized by legal experts and political officials, not by police professionals, while the New York Conference failed to attract international attention . </P> <P> In 1923, a new initiative was taken at the International Criminal Police Congress in Vienna, where the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) was successfully founded as the direct forerunner of Interpol . Founding members included police officials from Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia . The United Kingdom joined in 1928 . The United States did not join Interpol until 1938, although a US police officer unofficially attended the 1923 congress . </P> <P> Following Anschluss in 1938, the organization fell under the control of Nazi Germany, and the Commission's headquarters were eventually moved to Berlin in 1942 . Most members withdrew their support during this period . From 1938 to 1945, the presidents of Interpol included Otto Steinhäusl, Reinhard Heydrich, Arthur Nebe, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner . All were generals in the SS, and Kaltenbrunner was the highest ranking SS officer executed after the Nuremberg Trials . </P>

When did the uk join as a member in international criminal police commission