American police forces are joining the international collection of war crimes evidence from Ukraine against Russia and are rallying officers from around the world to help nail Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The largest U.S. police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the International Council of Police Representative Associations challenged police worldwide on Thursday to store and document evidence for use in a trial.
“War crimes investigations are inherently complex and lengthy,” said Patrick Yoes, the FOP’s president. “The atrocities we are all seeing on our television screens have already demonstrated that war crimes are taking place,” he added in a statement shared with Secrets.
The International Criminal Court has opened a case against Russia and Putin, led by prosecutor Karim Khan.
The FOP said that “it is the duty of every police force to assist that investigation and ensure all relevant evidence is secured to aid a prosecution.”
Yoes said that as Ukrainians collect and document evidence, many are sharing it with friends and family in the United States, and he is urging them to turn that over to the police. The concern is that it could be lost in future Russian military strikes.
“The FOP and ICPRA believe every police force should invite those who have received direct evidence from those in Ukraine to report this evidence to their local police so that it can be secured. It is a sad reality that many of those direct eyewitnesses will sadly lose their lives in the defense of their county. It is therefore essential that evidence they have already secured is not lost forever,” read the union statement.
It added that the FOP is not encouraging “well-meaning” people to capture what they see on social media and turn it over to the police.
