National surveillance camera network against criminals and terrorists

As announced in the government’s anti terror plan, Minister of Security and the Interior Jan Jambon is working on a national surveillance camera network. This specifically means that about a thousand smart cameras will be placed at 260 locations on motorways in Belgium by 2018. “Those cameras are to serve mainly for tracking down serious felons and terrorists,” Jan Jambon states. “However, I also want to use them to catch speeders.” It will cost 35 million euros over the next three years.

As their name indicates, the so-called ANPR cameras (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) recognise number plates automatically. At the same time they photograph the vehicle, making it possible to find out the colour, make and type. If the vehicle is on a black list of signalled number plates, an alarm bell rings and all information is sent to the police zones and/or investigation teams involved via the national ANPR server. Their response will depend upon the situation. If it concerns a stolen car, then the police will immediately take action. If it concerns a terrorist’s car, they can also choose to follow the car and stop it later. Two hundred federal police officers will process the data.

Integrated approach

Minister Jan Jambon is not only planning a surveillance camera network at the country’s borders, but at all locations where motorways cross each other or ring roads. In addition, he wants to connect the new, high-tech surveillance camera network with the smart cameras that are already being deployed by cities such as Kortrijk, Mechelen and Turnhout. “They have already proven their value there,” Jan Jambon states. For example, smart cameras helped solve 172 cases in Mechelen last year. And Kortrijk is solving one crime every three days thanks to those cameras. “In addition, they raise awareness,” he interjects, “not only when it comes to crime, but also when it comes to owners who did not take out insurance for their cars or didn’t have it undergo a vehicle technical control.”

Privacy guaranteed

The surveillance camera network with automatic number plate registration does not represent a privacy problem, according to the Privacy Commission. After all, the information registered is only transmitted to police departments that need it to do their jobs. Jan Jambon himself concludes that the measure enjoys a significant level of support: “Eight in ten Belgians indicated that they wanted extra cameras during a recent poll.”