The Belgian police have speeded up the recruitment process for specialists from the private sector in order to fight computer crime and financial fraud.
Such specialists can apply throughout the year and can skip some police courses during their training, including traffic and policing. Thirty-two of these new specialist senior inspectors were proclaimed on Wednesday in Brussels, in the presence of Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, among others.
To deploy the inspectors more quickly, the regulatory framework, specific training and recruitment policy had to be reviewed in consultation with the unions. Many vacancies were also opened up, allowing more candidates to be hired.
As a result of these measures, about 120 specialised senior inspectors – instead of the usual 30 or so – will be able to complete the training, which now lasts 14 months, including internships. As of 1 March 2023, 51 candidates had already started the new training. Another group will begin in October.
“In the fight against phishing, financial fraud and money laundering, the Federal Judicial Police needs a large number of additional senior inspectors,” Minister Van Quickenborne said. “But the training was very long and covered a lot of modules that were not relevant for these specialised profiles, which led many of them to drop out.
“This is why we have updated the rules and adapted the training,” the minister explained.
Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden commented that this was an example of how police education is aligned with the needs of the field.
“Thanks to a redesigned training and a different recruitment policy, we will now be able to train and mobilise more senior inspectors with a particular specialisation more quickly,” added Minister Verlinden.
