Draft:Valdecy Urquiza

Valdecy de Urquiza e Silva Junior  is a high-ranking Brazilian police officer and the 2024 candidate from Brazil for the position of Secretary General of INTERPOL. Urquiza currently holds the position of Vice-President of the Americas Region on INTERPOL's Executive Committee. Additionally, he serves as the Director of International Cooperation for the Brazilian Federal Police.

INTERPOL
From 2015 to 2018, Urquiza served as the Head of INTERPOL NCB Brasilia, during which time he represented Brazil on various regional police bodies, including Europol and AMERIPOL.

In 2018 he was seconded from the Brazilian Federal Police to INTERPOL’s General-Secretariat in Lyon, France. There he assumed the position of Assistant-Director for Vulnerable Communities from 2018 to 2021, spearheading INTERPOL’s Global Strategy on the safeguarding of the most vulnerable members of society.

In 2021 Urquiza was elected by INTERPOL Member Countries as Vice-President for the Americas at the Executive Committee , a position he holds until 2024. In this capacity, he also chairs the Executive Committee’s Operational and Institutional Sub-Committee.

Brazilian Federal Police Career
Within the Brazilian Federal Police, Urquiza has held the rank of Police Commissioner since 2007. Early in his career, he headed Environmental Crime and Financial Crime units. His leadership extended to directing the Information Technology Directorate from 2010 to 2014.

Following this, Urquiza shifted his focus to International Affairs, leading to his role as Head of INTERPOL National Central Bureau Brasilia and Head of International Police Cooperation Division from 2014 to 2018. Upon his return to the Brazilian Federal Police in 2021, he assumed the position of Head of International Legal Cooperation, overseeing criminal matters. Since January 2023, Urquiza has served as the Director for International Cooperation at the Brazilian Federal Police.

Education and Academic Career
Urquiza is graduated in law from the University of Fortaleza in 2003. He has an MBA on Strategic Sustainability Management from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (2005) and another MBA in Public Administration from IBMEC (2011).

Additionally, his international training includes Diplomas in Police Info-Communications Systems from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (2011), Criminal Justice and Police Science from the University of Virginia, and Leadership from Harvard Professional Development Program (2019). Notably, Urquiza graduated from the FBI National Academy leadership program in 2017 (Session 267) and is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (International Association of Chiefs of Police OU International Chiefs of Police Association?).

A native Portuguese speaker, Urquiza is fluent in English and Spanish, with an intermediate level in French.