Belgian investigator wins prestigious US prize

Belgian investigator wins prestigious US prize
Hardy and his colleagues prevented a terrorist threat on the US embassy in Brussels.

Olivier Hardy, an investigator with the federal police’s anti-terrorist unit in Brussels, DR3, received on Friday a "Top Cop" prize in Washington for helping to thwart a plot to attack the US Embassy in the Belgian capital two years ago.

The Top Cops awards, organised annually for the past 27 years by the US National Association of Police Organisations (Napo), honour law enforcement officers who accomplish outstanding actions. Police Officer Hardy received his award in the international category, Belga News Agency reports.

On 21 June 2019, Mr. Hardy and his DR3 colleagues received a tip about a planned terror attack against the US Embassy in Brussels. Following intensive investigating work involving the federal police, an investigating judge and the federal prosecutor’s office, a suspect was held less than 24 hours after the tip.

“It’s a great honour for me to win this award, but we have to imagine that judicial inquiries are more and more complex and cannot be resolved alone,” Mr. Hardy said in reaction to the announcement of his award on Friday evening.

“This award is recognition for the qualitative work that was carried out by all the colleagues of the team in charge of the case but also, more generally, of the federal judicial police and the Midi police zone, who supported us,” the Brussels-based police officer said.

“Without forgetting the Regional Computer Crime Unit, the Central Directorate of Technical and Scientific Police and the special units,” he added. “The outcome of this investigation also falls to the investigating judge and the federal prosecutor under whose aegis we worked tirelessly.”


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