Federal Police
The Federal Police (Dutch: Federale Politie; French: Police Fédérale; German: Föderale Polizei) conducts specialized law enforcement and investigation missions that cover more than one region in Belgium. The Federal Police has approximately 12,500 personnel that provide support units for the Local Police and the federal police itself.
There are three operational divisions within the Federal Police:
- the Algemene Directie Bestuurlijke Politie/Direction Générale Police Administrative (English: General Directorate Administrative Police) have two functions: they perform specially assigned law enforcement tasks and deliver all kinds of support to the other departments and the Local Police: the Traffic Police (Wegpolitie/Police de la Route), Air Police (Luchtvaartpolitie/Police Aéronautique), Railway Police (Spoorwegpolitie/Police des Chemins de fer), the Waterway Police (Scheepvaartpolitie/Police de la Navigation), the General Reserve (riot police, prisoners transport, special protection and escorts, Mounted Police) (Algemene Reserve/Réserve Générale), the Royal Escort (Koninklijk Escorte/Escorte Royale), Dog Support Service (Dienst Hondensteun) and the Air Support Service (Dienst Luchtsteun).
- the Algemene Directie Gerechtelijke Politie/Direction Générale Police Judiciaire (English: General Directorate Judicial Police) investigate heavy, organised and interregional crimes (local crimes are investigated by the Local Police), and conduct proactive and reactive investigation. These investigations involve human and drug trafficking, criminal organisations and groups, murder, armed robbery, fraud, corruption, forgery and missing persons.
- the Algemene Directie Ondersteuning en Beheer/Direction Générale Appui et Gestion (English: General Directorate Support and Management) delivers human resources, financial and general management to the police organization: recruitment, training, staff management, medical, legal affairs, internal affairs, equipment (standards for both Federal and Local Police are the same), logistics, infrastructure, finance...
The Federal Police is led by a Commissioner General. The Commissioner General's Office is responsible for contacts with the local police, integrated police operations, coordination and external communication. The International Police Cooperation Division (CGI) is Belgium’s national central bureau for the European Police Office (Europol), Schengen Information System and International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
The Commissioner General is also in charge of the CGSU special units (SWAT and covert surveillance teams) and the national criminfo database.
Read more about this topic: Law Enforcement In Belgium
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