Specialised and operational support

The Federal Police provides a wide range of specialized support.

Crime Scene Investigation: the Forensic Police

The forensic experts of the Federal Police provide an essential and unique support to the Integrated Police.

Last year, Forensic Police experts conducted over 24,494 investigations, predominantly at crime scenes, mostly looking for trace evidence.  

Crime Scene Investigation

The accreditation process for Forensic Police laboratories continued in 2023. Three units officially comply already with the strict ISO standards. At the end of 2023, the laboratories in Ghent and Liège reached the final stage of the procedure. This accreditation is due to motivated teams of experts and their strong involvement in those long and complex procedures.

  • 24,494 crime scene investigations
  • 8,304 hits on fingerprints resulting in the identification of 3,990 suspects
  • The study of the impact of separating the CSI (Crime Scene Investigation: field experts) and the FPL (Forensic Police Laboratory: back office responsible for the analyses) teams on fingerprint data processing in the Leuven judicial district (in cooperation with the University in Leuven/KUL) led to a threefold increase in identifications based on fingerprints and reduced processing time by one third.

 

Special Units

Besides their key role in most dangerous operations, the Directorate of Special Units (DSU) is crucial and indispensable in the fight against organized crime.

  • 4,990 missions
  • 47 crisis situations (entrenched armed person(s) refusing to surrender, hostage-taking, kidnapping, extortion)
  • 1,123 observations
  • 145 secured house searches 
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The DSU also offers specialized technical expertise through highly advanced means. They are in constant search of experts with relevant IT skills.

Speciale Eenheden - Unités spéciales - Special Units

 

Specialised support to the negotiated management of public space 

The Federal Police offers different types of support in the field of negotiated management of public space, notably specialized human resources and means, to all Integrated Police units. 

To provide this specialized and varied support, the Federal Police can notably rely on the following teams: ARRO and their water cannons; APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) and their armoured intervention vehicles for secure evacuation and transport of persons inside or outside danger areas; EVIDENCE with their capacity to melt into the crowd for observation, identification and arrest purposes and to collect evidence using the multimedia; mounted police units, etc. 

Here are some salient figures in terms of specialized support:

  • ARRO: 630 missions (excl. federal intervention reserve deployment)
  • APC: 419 missions
  • EVIDENCE (video): 133 missions
  • Mounted police units: 1,618 patrols, 2,465 arrests in the context of policing missions and 13 protocol missions (Royal Escort - ERKE)

When planning security arrangements for a major event (demonstration, football match, festival, etc.), Local Police authorities can call in two types of non-specialized support:

  • The one provided by other Local Police units, through a solidarity mechanism known as ‘hycap’ (capacité hypothéquée) in police jargon;  
  • The one provided by the Federal Police, through the Intervention Corps (CIK) of the different Coordination and Support Directorates (DCA/CSD), which along with the Directorate of Public Security (DAS) form the federal intervention reserve.

In 2023, the Federal Police accounted for 45.5% of the support provided, totalling 308,779 working hours.

Finally, 2,237 staff members attended negotiated management of public space training at the National Police Academy (ANPA) and provincial police schools in 2023. 

Drones

Dog and Air Support

Dog Support is a highly prized specialized support of the Federal Police. Last year, the Dog Support Directorate (DACH) completed 7,595 missions.

In 2023, the excellent noses of the Belgian police dogs notably led to the following seizures:

  • 1 ton of cocaine and 13 kilos of heroin
  • 921,000 euros and 10,400 GBP

With 1,236 flying hours in the context of their judicial, policing, road safety, civil protection or other missions, for the benefit of a wide range of stakeholders, the Air Support Directorate (DAFA) will soon have two additional helicopters at its disposal.  

Regarding technological developments, the Federal Police continues to develop support tools for the detection, identification and disposal of malicious or hostile drones which may pose a serious threat to public security. 

 

Technical support of the Maritime and River Police (SPN)

Besides being specialized in ‘on-the-water policing’, the Technical Support Team of the Maritime and River Police (SPN) notably supports investigations by means of specialized technical equipment:

  • x-ray scanners
    • number of days used: 173 
    • number of checked cargos: 4,695
  • high-definition sonar
    • number of days used: 43 
    • vehicles and objects found: 98
    • bodies found: 7
  • drug detection tools
    • number of days used: 33 
    • number of drug swabs: 1,213 (with 331 positive)