Acteur de la police intégrée pour une politique de sécurité intégralePart of the integrated police for an integral security policy

The federal police

Summary

3

Foreword

The integrated police

10The Values of the integrated police11Basic principles of an “excellent police function”

11Community policing13Information-led policing

14Optimal management

The federal police

23Mission Statement of the federal police

24 The National Security Plan

25 The NSP 2008-2011

28 International police coope-ration

34 Two key actors of the integra-ted working

34 The administrative coordina-ting director

35The Directorate of relations with the local police

The local police

38 Missions of the local police

39 The zonal security plan

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7 17 37

Foreword

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The Belgian police services are a key component of the Government’s se-curity policy, which pursuant to the law aims at providing a proper service to the population. Their organisation is innovative within the concept of an “integrated police”.

From an organisational point of view, the police operate on different levels. Their various components are based on two levels of responsibility and power: the federal and local levels. Whereas the federal police are re-sponsible for law enforcement on

federal level, the local law enforce-ment falls within the competencies of local police corps, each of which is in charge of a district called “police zone”. Both levels are autonomous without any hierarchical links bind-ing them.

From a functional point of view, the different components make up an integrated police service that com-plements each other. This comple-mentary nature with respect for autonomy is what makes the Belgian police unique.

The local police are in charge of all basic police missions, be it admin-istrative or judicial police missions, guaranteeing a minimum service to the population.

The federal police carry out missions that on the one hand stem from their sphere of activity covering the whole territory, and on the other derive from specializations that are to be devel-oped within the federal police to the benefi t of the whole Belgian police.

Consequently, the federal police fulfi l judicial and administrative missions in specialized areas or in areas that exceed the jurisdiction of the local police corps. To this end, the federal police are composed of a variety of directorates, units and services, which are in charge of providing a wide range of support, be it operational or other, to the local police corps. Finally, the federal police have authority to represent all the Belgian police serv-ices within the framework of interna-tional police cooperation.

It is self-evident that such para-mount missions go hand in hand with great responsibilities, which the federal Commissioner General police are to assume, not only for them-selves but also for the local police corps. They constantly strive to meet those legitimate expectations assist-ed by well-trained and motivated po-lice or civilian staff, adopting a policy of openness towards the authorities they are subordinate to, while aim-ing at providing the proper service, to which the population is entitled.

Foreword

Fernand KoekelbergCommissioner General

The integrated police

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There are two component parts in the ‘integrated police’, to know the federal police and the 196 local po-lice zones. The ‘integrated police’ was created by the law of 7 Decem-ber 1998 organizing an integrated police service structured on two le-vels. The legal basis for police work is defi ned in the law of 5 August 1992 on the General police regulations.The Belgian police structure is thus organized on two levels, i.e. the local and federal level.

Although both levels are autono-mous, they cooperate to assure the integrated police function.

In order to emphasize the integrated nature of the police:

- A national security plan sets out the guiding lines of the police missions and sets priorities;

- The selection and recruitment procedures are common and training is brought into line;

- There is only one statute for all police offi cers, be it federal or lo-cal, meaning that the same rules apply to all members of both the federal and local police as regards promotion, assessment, career moves, discipline, remuneration, retirement, etc.

- All functions on both federal and local level are accessible to any member of the federal or local police, providing that they apply for a job-to-job mobility and meet the required conditions;

- A code of ethics applies to all members of the police services;

- In the matter of operational police information, there is only one General National Database for the two police levels;

- The District Information Cross-roads (DIC) assures the link be-tween the local and federal level for the operational exchange of administrative and judicial police information;

- As regards call-taking (emergen-cy calls) and dispatching of the teams in the fi eld, the 11 provin-cial information and communica-tion centres (ICC) are operational on both police levels;

- Plans are being executed to enable the federal and local police, as well as all other emergency and safety services (emergency medical services, fi re brigade, Customs, etc.) to use a digital radio network called ASTRID, which will contribute to a better communication between the police services and will enhance the cooperation between the police and the other emergency services.

- …

The integrated police

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The integrated police

Two categories of staffVisual identity

The staff of the integrated police consists of two categories.

The operational staff is made up of three different categories: the basic staff, the mid-dle staff and the senior offi cers. The police offi cers are qualifi ed to carry out judicial and administrative police missions.

The operational staff may also include police assistants. They are not police offi cers but have nevertheless limited police competence.

The administrative and logistic staff (the so-called “CALog” staff) is made up of civilians who work in both operational and support/management units.

They have no police competence, except for a small number of them who hold a posi-tion as judicial police offi cer assisting the Public prosecutor, which is limited to the carrying out of tasks particular to those of

technical and scientifi c police laboratories.

The police logo consists of a white symbol in a blue circle. This symbol represents a hand or a fl ame. The smooth lines of the fl ame or the hand represent the good contacts that the police want to establish with the population as well as the good cooperation between the different police services. The blue colour sym-bolises the mutual trust between the police and the population.

The ochre line under the word “police” re-presents the federal police. A light blue line is used for the local police.

The logo was used as a point of reference for the striping on the vehicles or on some parts of the individual equipment (kepi, name badge, rank features), with the same colour differences: ochre for the federal police and light blue for the local police.

• Respecting and attending to the respect of the individual rights and freedoms, as well as the dignity of everyone, especially by resorting to legal constraint in a limited and well-considered way.

• Being loyal to the democratic institutions.• Being honest, impartial, following the norms to be implemented and

having a sense of responsibility.• Showing service spirit characterised by :

receptiveness; quality of work; striving for solutions within our area of competence; optimising the implementation of the appropriate mean; striving for the integrated working of the police services.

• Promoting internal relations based on mutual respect and contributing towards well-being at work.

The Values of the integrated police

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The community policing philosophy is based on a broad approach to se-curity and quality of life. It aims at integrating police into society, ser-ving the citizens and, with the help of the different communities, look-ing for solutions to local problems causing insecurity. It concerns all the services of the integrated police.

Community policing as applied in Belgium is based on fi ve pillars: External orientation. The police ser-vices are not outside society, they belong to it. The police know and understand the evolution of socie-ty. This integration allows them to

quickly become aware of any security and viability problem in society and, consequently, to respond to it in time and in an appropriate way or even to anticipate it.

Problem solving. This pillar refers to the identifi cation and analysis of the potential causes of criminality and confl icts in the community (com-munities). The police do not only respond to problems once they have happened or once they have been reported, and certainly react before they get out of hand. By continuously following up, identifying and analy-sing insecurity situations, the police try to identify the problems on time,

to foresee them as far as possible, and to anticipate them.

Partnership. This refers to the fact that security and viability are not exclusively police matters. Moreover, the police do not want to be the only ones responsible for those issues. The security issue is a chain, in which every partner is a link of the global and integrated approach.

Accountability. Mechanisms are re-quired in order to enable the police to account for the way, in which ques-tions are answered and the needs of the communities they serve are met.

Community policing

As a contribution to societal security, any member of the integrated police services has to take into ac-count the principles of community policing, information led policing and optimal management, when performing his/her tasks.An “excellent police function” is the result of a well-balanced combination of these basic principles.

Basic principles of an “excellent police function”

The integrated police

Empowerment. This means that possibilities must be created for police offi cers and a range of de-mographic groups in order to tackle common issues related to security and quality of life, to provide servi-ces and establish security. Em-powerment implies, among other things, that the police, with the help of their partners and of the population, should have a critical eye on their own missions and on the way they are performed.

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Information-led policing is the perma-nent concern of the integrated police for guiding the organisation at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, using information about inse-curity, viability, criminality and police working (experience and skills).Characteristics of the concept:

1. Goal-orientedA police service without information and knowledge is a blind organisation. Information and knowledge form the foundations of any police work and of any effi cient and effective police functioning as regards both basic and special police missions. The police gather useful information to set the goals; to carry out and suc-cessfully fulfi l judicial and administra-tive tasks; to fi nd out if those tasks have been fulfi lled properly and, once an assessment has been made, if need be, to adapt the goals. This happens in partnership with and under the control of the competent authorities in a legal and socially acceptable way.

2. Proactive and reactive workInformation is mostly gathered and processed in a reactive way, for in-stance after an incident. Nevertheless, if something indicates that offences are being prepared and/or viability and security are threatened, the police have to gather information and, if need be, suggest responses to the authorities. In this case, information is processed in a proactive way.

3. Providing added valueThe police permanently see to it that the processing of information is al-ways of a necessary and particular sig-nifi cance at security, viability, crimina-lity or police working level.

4. ExchangeProcessing information requires the cooperation of all police services at both local and federal levels, as well as of the authorities and partners. With-out such willingness to exchange or give information, the information-led policing remains pointless. Informa-

tion and knowledge that cannot be shared are worthless.

5. Goal-orientednessPolice work is orientated on the base of knowledge and understanding of events and phenomenons.For the steering of police-activities, information and knowledge are there-fore of vital importance.Steering police-activities also means that authorized services can give specifi c assignments to other police services or individual police offi cers, to gather and exchange necessary goal-oriented nformation.

Information-led policing

The integrated police

Optimal management

As far as optimal management is concerned, the leaders at all levels of the different police services take on a major responsibility. The manage-ment is expected to assume “lead-ership with guts”, with a sense of motivation, listening, responsibility, integrity and perseverance.Optimal management affects eve-ryone. It is synonymous with result-oriented work, transparency in mis-

sions, competencies, responsibilities and results, and willingness to im-prove continuously on a long-term basis with professional cooperation.

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The integrated police

The federal police

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The federal police are subordinate to the Ministers of the Interior and of Justice and consist of a general commissioner’s offi ce and 3 general directorates: the General Directorate of Administrative Police (DGA), the General Directorate of Judicial Po-lice (DGJ, also called “federal judicial police”) and the General Directorate of Support and Management (DGS).

Those general directorates include 27 divisions and 54 decentralized divisions in charge of several other departments. General Directorate

of Administrative Police(DGA)

General Directorate of Support and Management

(DGS)

General Directorate of Judicial Police

(DGJ)

General Commissioner’s Office

Federal police staff – February 2010Operational staff 9 935 *Trainees 1 393

Administrative and logistic staff 3 817Total 15 145

* This fi gure includes the 606 people in salaried employment on secondment to the local police.

The Commissioner General is the head of the organisation. He is responsible for specifi c missions and has his own directorates and departments fulfi l-ling tasks related to operational po-lice information, international police cooperation, and relations with the local police and the special units.

The decentralised coordination and support directorates, which have a key role in the integrated working of the police system, depend on the Com-missioner General, who also leads and coordinates the three General Directorates.

The federal police

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General Commissioner (CG)

Directorate of Operational

Police Information (CGO)

Directorate of International

Police Cooperation (CGI)

Directorate of Relations with

the Local Police (CGL)

Directorate of Special Units

(CGSU)

27 decentralized Directorates

of Coordination and Support

(DCA)

General Directorate of Administrative Police (DGA)

General Directorate of Judicial Police (DGJ)

General Directorate of Support and Management (DGS)

Directorate of Administrative Police Operations (DAO)

Directorate of Judicial Police Operations (DJO)

Directorate of Mobility and Staff Management

(DSP)

Directorate of Traffi c Police (DAH)

Directorate of Crime against Persons (DJP) Directorate of Recruit-

ment and Selection (DSR)

Directorate of Communication Lines (DAC)

- Railway police (SPC)- Navigation police (SPN)

- Aviation police (LPA)- Immigration et border control

Directorate of General Reserve (DAR)

Detachment and support

- Dog Support Unit (DACH)- Air Support Unit (DAFA)- SHAPE- Protection of the Royal Family (DPPR)

Directorate of Crime against Goods (DJB) Directorate of Legal

Affairs, Litigation and Statutes (DSJ) Directorate of Economic

and Financial Crime (DJF)

Directorate of Internal Relations (DSI) Directorate of Organised Crime

(DJC)

Directorate of Internal Prevention and Protection

at Work (DSW) Directorate of Technical and

Scientifi c Police (DJT)

Service in charge of Special Judicial Missions in the Military (DJMM)

Directorate of Training(DSE)

Directorate of Logistical Support (DSL)

Directorate of Purchase(DSA)

Directorate of Infra-structure and Equipment

(DSM)

Directorate of Finance(DSF)

Directorate of Telematics(DST)

Medical Service (DSDM)

27 decentralized Judicial Directorates (PJF)

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The General Directorate of Administra-tive Police (DGA) is made up of a cen-tral directorate (DGA Team) and several directorates and departments. The General Directorate of Adminis-trative Police is active on the whole national territory and carries out pri-mary administrative police missions. It is in charge of:• the traffi c police on the motor-

ways and main roads having similar characteristics;

• the waterway police on the North Sea and waterways;

• the railway police on the railways, in the trains and in some sta-tions;

• the aeronautical police at the national airport and the fi ve regional airports;

• the immigration and border control.

This Directorate also provides special police dog and air support.

It carries out protection missions, such as escorting the transport of valuables, transporting dangerous prisoners, guarding the royal palaces and protecting the members of the royal family, as well as police missions at the SHAPE (General headquarters of NATO forces in Europe).

Finally, it supports the administrative authorities and the local police, e.g. by supplying staff and special equip-ment (water canon carts, cavalry, etc.) for public order policing.The National Contact Point provides a 24/7 duty desk for administrative police matters.

The federal police

The General Directorate of Judicial Police (DGJ), commonly called “Ju-dicial Federal Police”, centrally co-ordinates the approach to specifi c crimes and mainly carries out inquir-ies regarding supra-local organised crime destabilising society and of-fences requiring a special approach.The challenge of the Federal Judicial Police services consists in the identi-fi cation and destabilisation of crimi-nal networks and groups of authors.

The issues that are dealt with as a priority are: - Crimes against persons, such as

drug traffi cking, trade and traffi ck-ing in human beings, terrorism, etc. ;

- Crimes against property, such as armed robbery, vehicle-related crimes (carjacking and robbery by breaking and entering, also classifi ed home jacking), arms dealing, organised theft (com-mitted for instance by itinerant authors), waste dealing, etc.;

- Organised crime;- Economic and fi nancial crime

and computer crime.

This General Directorate also heads up some special directorates and departments, such as the technical and scientifi c police (laboratories, portraitists and the behavioural analysis department or profi ling de-

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The federal police

partment) and the criminal analysis department. It also manages SIM and CHIS and is in charge of the protec-tion of witnesses and the searches for missing persons and fugitive convicts.

The General Directorate of Judicial Police is also at the head of the Dis-trict Judicial Divisions (one in each of the 27 Belgian districts), which are un-der the authority of a judicial director. The special investigators belonging to those directorates conduct inqui-ries under the authority of the com-petent judicial authorities.

The General Directorate of Sup-port and Management (DGS) offers non-operational support to the fe-deral police and carries out a certain number of support missions for the local authorities and police services. The General Directorate manages human resources, fi nancial means and logistics. Its directorates and departments deal with the follow-ing matters: recruitment and selec-tion, staff and career management, training and police academies, inter-nal relations, legal matters (statutes and litigations), prevention and pro-tection measures in the workplace, logistic support (uniforms, frame

work contracts, infrastructures), fi -nances, computing and occupational medicine.

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Directorates of Coordination and Support

District Judicial Divisions

Aeronautical police Traffi c police Railway police Waterway police

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Although the aforementioned values of the integrated police are key points of reference, the federal police deemed it necessary to complete these values by other ones, more appropriate to their mission’s specifi city. The aim of these additional values is not to overshadow the ones of the integrated police, but to en-hance some principles of the code of ethics of the police services, which principles are essential to carry out the mission of the federal police.These values stem from the following mission and view of the federal police.

Mission Statement of the federal police

The federal police

MISSION As component of the integrated police and under the auspices and responsibility of their authorities, the federal police contribute to the security and the quality of life in the society.

They carry out special and supralo-cal police missions on both national and international levels and offer support to the police authorities and local police services.

They carry out their mission• in accordance with the principles

of the integrated working system,

of specialisation and subsidiarity;• in cooperation with the other

actors involved.

VISION As members of the federal police and partners of the local Police, we strive towards an “excellent police function” in the execution of all our missions.

Therefore, we relentlessly aspire to have committed, motivated and com-petent staff members.

Together, we are building up an effec-tive, transparent, dynamic and inno-vative organisation, offering an even

better service, which is known and recognized as such.

VALUESWithin the scope of this mission and in accordance with the code of eth-ics and the values of the integrated police, we consider the following principles of paramount importance:• integrity;• respect;• open-mindedness;• fl exibility;• customers-tailored services;• pride in being part of the organi-

sation.

The National Security Plan (NSP) is the backbone of the police working. It sets the strategic objectives of the federal police resulting in action plans. The stra-tegic objectives are reconsidered every four years and the operational objectives are reviewed on an annual basis. The guiding lines of the different federal police missions are fi xed on the basis of the NSP and the action plans, taking their values into account. Those missions are to effi ciently contribute towards a secure society. The struggle against signifi cant phenomena such as organised or international crime must be based on the concept of information-led policing. According to this concept, administrative and judicial police operations are led by the infor-mation (for example images of phenomena or groups, analyses of threats, etc.), which is the fruit of an effi cient and effective information cycle.

The NSP is prepared and implemented by the federal police and is approved by the Ministers of the Interior and of Justice.

The National Security Plan

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On 1 February 2008, the NSP 2008-2011 was approved by the compe-tent authorities. It itemizes the prio-rity crime phenomena, deals with the general policy of the police and fi nally defi nes the contribution of the fede-ral police to the security policy.

The federal police, in collaboration with the local police and the other actors involved, want to improve the security in our society and enhance the quality of life. The motto being ‘Security and quality of life: your concern, our chal-lenge!’. This is the underlying message of the NSP.

The government decided to give pri-ority to the twelve following crime phenomena or safety issues, espe-cially when they take on an organized form. Twelve specifi c projects are de-vised to fi ght each one of them.• Serious violence-related crimes; • Crimes against property (groups

of itinerant offenders);• Economic and fi nancial crimes

(corruption, fraud and launder-ing);

• Drugs, production and traffi cking, as well as all drug-related crimes (production of synthetic drugs, cannabis growing, import and transit of heroin and cocaine as well as street dealing);

• Serious computer crimes;• Serious environmental crimes

(organized waste traffi cking);• Domestic violence;• Juvenile delinquency and crimes

against minors (prevention, counselling, punishment and rehabilitation);

• Terrorism;• Human traffi cking and smug-

gling (economic and sexual exploitation);

• Road safety (speeding, alcohol and drugs, running red lights, inappropriate driving, safety risks for the transport of goods and repeated offences);

• Nuisance and street crimes.

In concrete terms, the federal police shall, in collaboration with the local police and various other partners, contribute to achieving the 7 follo-wing policy objectives:

1. reduce or gain a better control on crime, especially on priority phenomena;

2. increase the elucidation level, especially for the most serious crimes against property;

3. improve road safety and espe-cially reduce the number of road casualties;

4. strengthen the safety feeling;5. maintain the trust in the police;6. enhance client satisfaction;7. preserve the integrity of police

staff.

Finally the NSP 2008-2011 defi nes 8 strategic projects for the federal police, which shall contribute, directly or indirectly, to the security policy of the federal police:

The NSP 2008-2011

national security plan

1. a result-oriented approach of the priority crime phenomena;

2. a quality service;3. an optimum information

management;4. support;5. training and skills management;6. use of new technologies;7. involvement of staff members;8. economic and ecological

management.

The principles of the excellent police function are the leitmotiv of the NSP 2008-2011.With a view of being consistent, consistency being peculiar to the system of the integrated police, the local police adhere to this policy through zonal security plans set up for the period 2009-2012.

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It is the most important scientifi c sur-vey on the Belgians’ opinion regard-ing insecurity and victimization. This survey is achieved under the auspices of the federal police at the request of the Minister of the Interior. It sounds out the Belgians’ feelings on security as well as on the functioning of the police services in our country. The competent authorities and the police services use this survey to elaborate their policy and the secu-rity plans.For the last survey (the seventh one), 37 000 Belgians were interviewed by phone in the period from December 2008 to July 2009. It concerned mat-ters, such as neighbourhood issues, insecurity feelings, victimization, reporting offences and the function-ing of the police services.

89.2% of the citizens consider that the police services are effi cient or even very effi cient (87.5% in 2006). A 10% increase has been recorded since 2000, showing a persistent upward trend.

Some other important fi ndings:- The most important neighbour-

hood issues remain unadapted speed, thefts with breaking in houses and aggressive driving;

- In 2006, 9% of the interviewed persons always or often felt insecure. In 2008, this percentage slightly decreased to 8%;

- Whether or not people report an offence depends on the nature of the offence: for instance, vehicle thefts and thefts with breaking are reported in more than 75% of the cases. Threats with physical

violence or sexual offences are reported in less than 10% of the cases.

The complete results of the survey are available on the website of the federal police (www.policefederale.be) under “Publications”.

The federal police

The Security Survey

The international police cooperation is an area of competence of the federal police. This cooperation with other countries is important with a view to the struggle against international (organised) crime (for instance to break up a trade in human beings network) or to the maintenance of law and order abroad (for example to follow the movements of football supporters during big interna-tional competitions).

This international cooperation results in several connections within the frame-work of the European Union or with international organisations such as Europol and Interpol and is necessary in order to guarantee security and justice as provided for in the Treaty of Amsterdam.

International police cooperation

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The federal police

Since 1 January 2010, Spain, Belgium and Hungary form a trio. Each of these countries will hold the EU Presidency during a six-month term. The trio presidency system, based on a joint programme, aims to enhance the con-tinuity and the coherence between the three presidencies.Belgium shall hold the presidency in the period from 1 July to 31 December 2010. The integrated police prepared an ambitious programme with meet-ings, colloquia and international po-lice actions. The whole process of preparation, planning and coordination is carried out by a unit set up for the occasion within the Directorate for interna-tional police cooperation (CGI) of the federal police. The ambitions of the Belgian inte-grated police during this Belgian

Presidency were recorded in a ‘master message’:

“Holding the EU Presidency is both a responsibility to assume and an op-portunity to seize: It will be Belgium’s responsibility to carry off projects with success in collaboration with the 26 other Member States of the EU and it will be an opportunity for Bel-gium to draw attention to issues that are essential for the Belgian police.

Our main lines of action will be:- to harmonize the concepts, tools

and practices with relation to police cooperation in Europe;

- to optimize the operational co-operation between the European police offi cers through concrete actions;

- to promote the initiatives that will have a direct impact on the security of the European citizens;

- to encourage discussions on secu-rity on a European level.

The ultimate objective of our pro-gramme is to contribute in a concrete way to the development of a Eu-rope were each citizen feels free and secure and where each police offi cer is able to carry out his missions in close cooperation with his European counterparts. To this end, we shall put all the expertise of the Belgian police service at the disposal of the European Union.”

www.police-eu2010.be

Belgian EU Presidency

International police cooperation also results in conceptual activities (re-presentation in several international fora) and operational activities such as international and cross-border in-formation exchange.

The Belgian federal police also have representatives abroad. Those representatives are accredited to the country, in which they work or for some of them to neighbouring countries. They fulfi l a facilitation function at operational (adminis-trative and judicial) level. They also play an important part in the gath-ering and exchange of information and contribute to speeding up data transmission.

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The federal police

Post AccreditationsFrance – Paris France – MonacoSpain – Madrid Spain (ongoing procedure: Andorra – Portugal)

The Netherlands – The Hague The NetherlandsItaly – Rome Italy – San Marino (ongoing procedure: Greece – Malta) Germany – Wiesbaden Germany – Liechtenstein – SwitzerlandLuxembourg – Luxembourg LuxembourgAustria – Vienna Austria – Hungary – Croatia – Slovakia – Serbia – Slovenia – Czech Republic – Bosnia-

Herzegovina (ongoing procedure: Montenegro)Romania – Bucharest Romania – (ongoing procedure: Bulgaria – Macedonia – Moldavia)Poland – Warsaw Poland – Lithuania – Estonia – Latvia (ongoing procedure: Ukraine)Turkey – Istanbul Turkey – Pakistan – GeorgiaMorocco – Rabat Morocco – Senegal (ongoing procedure: Cape Verde – Mali – Mauritania)Russian Federation – Moscow Russian Federation – Belarus – Armenia – Kirghizstan – Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan –

Tajikistan Thailand – Bangkok Thailand – Cambodia – China – Laos – Malaysia – Singapore (Ongoing procedure:

Hong Kong – Indonesia – Myanmar – Vietnam)USA – Washington USA (ongoing procedure: Bahamas – Canada – Mexico – Puerto Rico)Venezuela – Caracas Venezuela – Bolivia – Brazil – Cayman Islands – Colombia – Costa Rica – Dominican

Republic – Ecuador – Jamaica – Panama – Peru – Surinam – CubaAlbania – Tirana Albania

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The federal police on the web

The federal police

The activities of the federal police

In their concern for transparency and openness to the authorities and the population, the federal police are keen on reporting on their activities. They publish a report of activities every year.

Such reports provide information about the way the federal police carried out their legal special police and support mis-sions, the means they used and their major achievements. The implementation of the national security plan is of course the guiding line of this important document.

The annual report of activities of the federal police may be read on www.polfed.be, under the section “Publications”.

General site: www.policefederale.be

Recruitment and selection: www.jobpol.be

Support and management: www.polsupport.be

Training: www.police.ac.be

Relations with the local police: www.infozone.be

According to the law of 20 June 2006 modifying several texts related to the integrated police, the general Commissioner of the federal police contributes towards the optimal integrated working of both police components, especially by seeing to it that the support missions are carried out by his own directorates and departments and by the general directorates. Two key actors coming directly under his authority play a signifi cant part in this fi eld:

Two key actors of the integrated working

At the judicial district level, the Di-rectorate of Coordination and Sup-port of the federal police, led by an administrative coordinating director, fulfi ls a pivotal function between the local and federal police.As far as the integrated working is concerned, its main scopes of ac-tivities are the coherence between local and national security policies, the interzonal cooperation and the working of the district information crossroads.The administrative coordinating di-rector also plays an important part

by providing support to the police authorities and the local police, especially in the fi elds of strategic analyses, operational support (re-inforcements and implementation of special means during large-scale events, etc.) and non-operational support (process support, logistic support, administrative support, etc.).The administrative coordinating director also coordinates the activi-ties of his Directorate with those of the federal judicial police. He offers federal judicial police administrative

The administrative coordinating director

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With a view to the integrated work-ing of the police system, the federal police offer their support and exper-tise to the local police in the fi eld of organisational development.

This strategic support is provided among others by the Directorate of relations with the local police (CGL) of the federal police. It concerns the development of the global police policy cycle, the fi nancial policy and management, the implementation

of the Belgian model of community policing, the striving for the optimal quality of the local police services, the information and communication be-tween the federal and the local police and between the local police corps.

At the provincial and/or district level, CGL has also developed networks of process support and policy collabora-tors whose main goal is to propagate the concept of the excellent police function.

Finally, the Directorate of relations with the local police is in charge of gathering and using the morphologi-cal data of the local police services. You will fi nd more information on this subject on the website of CGL: www.infozone.be.

The Directorate of relations with the local police

support and may also assist the judi-cial director in the working out of his police plan.

Finally, the administrative coordinat-ing director can also be in charge of the operational supervision or coordi-nation during important trials, foot-ball matches, large-scale integrated

police actions, demonstrations and cycle races.

The federal police

The local police

37

The local level is subdivided into police zones. There are 196 zones in Belgium. 50 of them cover the territory of one municipality only and are called mono-municipal zones. 146 of them cover several municipalities, for geo-graphic or operational reasons. They are called multi-municipal zones.

In a mono-municipal zone, the mu-nicipal council and the mayor are competent in police matters. There-fore, the municipality draws up the

budget of its own local police corps and keeps its own accounts.On the other hand, as far as adminis-tration is concerned, multi-municipal zones are independent of the munici-palities of the police zone. A police college composed of all the mayors of the multi-municipal zone and a po-lice council composed of the mayors and representatives of the different municipal councils draw up the main political lines.

The size and characteristics of the local police zones may be very diffe-rent depending on the surface area, the urbanisation level, etc. The local police have about 33 000 members of staff. The larg-est zones employ between 1 500 and 2 800 people. The smallest zones em-ploy about 50 people. Each zone is led by a ‘chief constable’.

The local police

Map of the 196 local police zones in Belgium

Dutch speaking zones French speaking zones German speaking zones Dutch & French speaking zones

The local police are in charge of the basic police working, i.e. all the administra-tive and judicial police missions necessary to manage local events and pheno-mena occurring on the zone territory. In concrete terms, this means that each police zone must perform at least six functions, in accordance with the police work principles focusing on excellence policing.Those six functions are: community policing, responsiveness towards the pub-lic, intervention, victim support, local investigation and maintenance of law and order. In this way, the whole population is offered a minimum equivalent service.The local police may also fulfi l some typical federal police tasks such as, for instance, interventions in prisons.

Missions of the local police

THE L

OCAL

POL

ICE

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Four-year zonal security plans are worked out in each police zone. Those plans are conceived by the zonal security councils, which are consultative committees, composed of the mayor(s), the public prosecutor, the corps chief and the administrative coordinating director of the federal police or his representative. Those councils may on occasion also be attended by some experts. In order to guarantee an integral security policy, the zonal security plans are based on the national security plan. They include the priority missions and objectives set by the zonal security council. They also include the local police capacity necessary to perform the different missions and may be related to local crime and security phenomena, to the internal working of the local police corps or culture.

The zonal security plan

The local police

The local police on the webThe standing committee of the local police

To fi nd the details and website addresses of the local police zones, surf on www.police.be and www.infozone.be.

The mission of the standing committee of the local police is to represent the 196 local police services. It gives advice on all topics related to local police on its own initiative or at the authorities’ request.

Website: www.police.be

Made by the Directorate of Internal Relations (DSI) of the General Directorate of Support and Management (DGS), Federal Police.Responsible editor: Eric Cobut, Rue Fritz Toussaint 8, 1050 Brussels