2023-10-07 10:56:34
The police are constantly asking you with their wanted notices, but is it really effective?
By Françoise De Halleux Your testimonies help clarify up to 45% of legal investigations! For other cases, still unresolved, the wanted notices remain current and are still visible on the federal police website.
The federal police continue to issue wanted notices to the general public. A total of 392 in 2021, 361 in 2022 and already 231 over the first 8 months of 2023. This gives, roughly, one wanted notice per day. Half of this concerns missing people (runaway teenagers, disoriented elderly people, suicidal people, etc.) and the other half concerns people wanted in the context of legal investigations.
In these cases, the police seek to identify a suspect or a witness, of whom surveillance cameras have sometimes captured images. She also seeks to find out if there are witnesses who saw a particular scene or vehicle at a particular location on a particular day (following a hit-and-run for example). These notices can also help police put a name to a body (or body parts) that cannot be identified.
These wanted notices are broadcast primarily on TV then to the Belga press agency, to the social networks Twitter, Facebook, Instagram (and also in the form of stories in order to reach young people). These notices are also sent by email to a list of people who have subscribed. There is a well-established framework: the notice systematically includes the places, the date, the description of the author with his photo or sketch (established on the basis of testimonies), his outfit at the time of the facts or his disappearance , etc.
Who recognizes this man brandishing this semi-automatic rifle and who could have a link with the Brabant killers?
“Between the moment when the investigator or the missing persons unit contacts us and the search notice, 3 hours are enough”, specifies the 1st commissioner Alain Martens, the head of the “Wanted notices” department of the federal judicial police .
The 1st Commissioner Alain Martens, head of the “Wanted Notice” department. -Polfed
43.4% elucidations in 2022
But what results do all these search notices give, 53% of which concern French-speaking files and 47% Dutch-speaking files (2022 figures)? “For missing people, the elucidation rate is 98% but without us knowing if it was really the wanted notice that played a role,” replies Alain Martens. “For judicial files, we achieve a elucidation rate of between 40 and 45%, which is very good. In 2022, this rate was 43.4%, a figure which can still change since witnesses can come forward several months after the issuance of the wanted notice, although this of course diminishes over time.
The images of “the man in the hat” have exceeded one million views. – Belga The sketch of a man still wanted after a kidnapping in Chimay. – Polfed The other suspect in the kidnapping committed against the former employee of the ING bank in Chimay. – Polfed Patricia Alberani, shot dead at her home in Anderlues in 2007. Michele Da Nazaret, shot dead at her home in Anderlues in 2007.
“Discretion assured”
“Discretion assured”, generally indicates the federal police. “This means that the person who calls us can request anonymity. His request will be transmitted to the magistrate who will decide. If there is a risk to the life of a witness, he will generally guarantee anonymity. The policeman cannot guarantee anything. He doesn’t have the power.”
Wanted notices are widely watched on TV and other broadcast channels. “The one who must have broken all the records must be that of the man in the hat of the Zaventem attack. It was seen well beyond our borders, it exceeded a million views.”
Brigitte Delclef, whose body was found at the foot of a cliff in Flémalle in 1995. – Polfed
Free call 0800/30 300
The service of 1st Commissioner Martens includes around fifteen police officers, including 5 who deal exclusively with wanted notices to the general public. The others take care of wanted notices intended for police officers only. A gigantic task since we reach the 6,300 research and information bulletins distributed internally, with a clarification rate of 15%. The telephone hotline is also provided by Mr. Martens’ team: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, three lines are open within the national contact point of the federal judicial police to take calls to the free number 0800/ 30,300. There is also a way to provide your testimony via an email form. “We sometimes receive crazy testimonies, but very rarely with bad intentions,” notes Mr. Martens. “And two or three times a year, we send spam emails to a few individuals that we are beginning to know: whatever the wanted notice issued, they were there, saw everything, heard everything,” concludes the 1st commissioner on a note of humor.
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