Frontline specialised policing

Thousands of Federal Police staff members are in direct contact with the general public with a view to ensuring, sometimes in the frontline, basic police services in specific fields such as railways, waterways and motorways.

Road safety

In 2023, the Federal Highway Police (DAH) performed 301,571 breath tests. These are a good example of frontline policing and reflect our commitment to improve road safety and reduce road casualties.  

Drink and drug driving, speeding, distracted driving and not wearing a seat belt are the main causes of fatal accidents in Belgium. The number of recorded offences speaks for Federal Police efforts to deter such dangerous behaviours and improve road safety:

  • drink driving: 3,565 offences 
  • drug driving: 1,123 offences
  • non-wearing of the seat belt and non-use of a child car seat: 4,445 offences
  • distracted driving (using a mobile phone while driving): 14,158 offences
Verkeersveiligheid - Sécurité routière

From January to November 2023, the Federal Highway Police (DAH) recorded 53 deaths on motorways and comparable roads, compared to 84 in 2022. This is only a provisional figure given that not all cases have been fed into the databases yet. The update including the figure for December 2023 will not be available before late March 2024.

Of course, the Federal Highway Police (DAH) also contributed to the annual BOB campaigns. During the 2023 winter and summer campaigns, the Federal Highway Police (DAH) and the Local Police performed 427,603 and 358,434 breath tests respectively. In winter 1.7% of the drivers tested positive and in summer 2.24%. These percentages were lower than the previous year despite the fact that a significantly higher number of tests had been taken. The winter 2023 rate (1.7%) was even the lowest in the BOB campaigns’ history, which showed that the combination of awareness-raising campaigns and checks had a major impact. 

In the second line, regional processing centres and technical units of the Federal Highway Police (DAH) processed 4,638,125 offences for the Belgian Integrated Police.

The Federal Police is also responsible for (traffic) safety and basic police tasks on the waterways. In 2023, the Maritime and River Police (SPN) put into service four new boats for carrying out its duties in this specific environment. In Limburg, a new position was created with a view to enabling the Maritime and River Police (SPN) to cope with the growing port activities in the province. 

 

 

Rail safety

In 2023, Railway Police (SPC) efforts to improve safety and foster a sense of security in trains resulted in: 

  • 116 action days for a more visible presence in trains
  • 250 operations, sometimes in cooperation with the Local Police and other security chain partners such as Securail
  • 150 joint patrols in international trains (in legal and organisational synchronisation with neighbouring countries)
  • 3,344 checks on persons in trains
  • 213,018 euros in cash seized
Veiligheid op het spoor - Sécurité sur la voie - Rail safety

Concerning the specific safety issue in and around the Brussels-Midi station, the Railway Police (SPC) has notably been striving for a more visible police presence with a view to fighting crime and (drug-related) nuisance. The following figures give an overview of Railway Police (SPC) efforts aimed at tackling the situation at the Brussels-Midi station in 2023:

  • 7,432 police reports, of which 7,040 were referred to the judicial authorities
  • 1,300 arrests, including 492 judicial arrests
  • 93 targeted operations, of which 27 were carried out in cooperation with the Local Police and other security chain partners

Railway track trespassing remains an important security issue for the Railway Police (SPC). The figure below includes both offences committed in stations and on tracks (notably track trespassing) and offences committed at level crossings by users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, etc.) who crossed the tracks when relevant warnings were on:

  • 116 police reports (track trespassing)

 

Border management

Border checks are another form of frontline contacts with citizens, which are also essential for national security. Borders are a major ‘impact factor’ in many crime areas, from human smuggling and terrorism to drug trafficking and thefts. Against the background of the opening up of internal borders and the strengthening of external borders in Europe, border management poses an important number of new challenges for police and security authorities.

In 2023, the different frontline units of the Federal Police checked 12 million passengers at Schengen external – land, sea and air – borders.

  • The police officers in charge of border checks at Belgian airports checked 9,728,765 passengers.
  • The Maritime and River Police (SPN) officers checked 1,224,993 passengers (including crew members) in sea ports.
  • The Railway Police (SPC) at Brussels-Midi station checked 1,672,000 Eurostar passengers.

The Airport Police (LPA) at Brussels Airport welcomed 39 new French-speaking members. This solution notably made it possible to considerably reduce waiting time at border checkpoints.

Border officers at air borders referred 29,814 persons to their second-line colleagues for further checks. Eleven persons were arrested for human smuggling.

The Airport Police (LPA) also proceeded to the removal of 4,466 persons, among which 1,849 persons who were returned after having been refused entry for failing to produce valid travel documents at border control and 2,607 persons who were repatriated after having been found to be illegally staying in Belgium. 

The Railway Police (SPC) unit in charge of border checks at the Eurostar terminal drew up 318 police reports. These concerned: 

  • 40 arrests of aliens for illegal stay in Belgium
  • 38 offences linked to false or falsified documents

In the context of the migration socioeconomic phenomenon, frontline authorities of the Federal Police intercepted the following persons in 2023:

  • 28,332 persons who were found to be illegally staying in Belgium
  • 757 migrants in transit through Belgium (notably on their way to the United Kingdom) without valid documents.

The ultimate goal of the Federal Police is to dismantle organised crime gangs and the networks behind people smuggling and trafficking in human beings. 

Finally, the Federal Police also organised the secondment of police staff to Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. 

 

  • In 2023, seconded members of the Belgian Federal Police worked 14,745 hours in the context of EU external border missions, notably in identity and document check operations.
Grensbeheer - Contrôle frontière - Border management

New Benelux Police Treaty

The new Benelux Police Treaty which came into force in 2023, held two major innovations: it expanded the opportunities for cross-border operations and improved police information exchange.

These innovations not only have an impact on the policing activities of Local Police units in border areas but also on those of frontline units of the Federal Police, including the Federal Highway Police (DAH), the Railway Police (SPC), the Airport Police (LPA) and the Maritime and River Police (SPN), of the Special Units (DSU) and of all units which exchange information with the Netherlands and/or Luxembourg.

In cross-border hot pursuits, national borders no longer apply and a hot pursuit which has been legally initiated in a Benelux country may now continue across the border of another Benelux country.

Nieuw Benelux-Politieverdrag - Nouveau traité Benelux en matière policière - New Benelux Police Treaty

The new Benelux Police Treaty does not only impact on frontline policing. It also allows police officers to perform certain investigative acts (such as hearing witnesses or victims) in a neighbouring country. Procedures for transferring suspects to a neighbouring country have also been simplified. Under the new treaty, police departments will also have direct access to one another's databases in specific cases.