The first Brussels ANPR cameras, initially intended for the low-emission zone (LEZ) and average speed checks, have been connected to the national police network. This involves 450 cameras. The integration allows all six Brussels police zones to access live data and footage in real time.

Connecting the cameras to the brand-new national police platform ANPR@GPI enables automatic number plate recognition and immediate exchange of information between local and federal police services, and is an essential step in the fight against crime and vehicle-related offenses.

Officers who wish to use the ANPR platform must state the reason for each search. They can then enter a full or partial license plate number and see the vehicle’s most recent locations. A map also shows the locations of the nearest patrols in real time.

Completed by March 2026

The national ANPR@GPI network, a centralized system for license plate recognition cameras, has been in place since mid-July. The aim is to connect as many ANPR cameras as possible to the network to step up the fight against crime and drug trafficking.

This will enable police officers to retrieve and consult ANPR data more efficiently and quickly. The two significant advantages of the system are real-time response when a suspicious license plate is detected and retrospective follow-up in judicial investigations.

Once all the cameras in the Brussels Capital Region have been connected, supplemented by those in police vehicles and hundreds of regional cameras purchased by the municipalities themselves, as well as those belonging to the transport companies MIVB/STIB and NMBS/SNCB, the police will start connecting ANPR cameras from other major cities and on motorways across the country. If all goes well, this phased connection should be completed by March 2026.

Minority Report

For Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin (MR), the initiative, which was rolled out quickly after a request from the new Brussels public prosecutor Julien Moinil, also shows how well the Belgian police model works.

“The integrated police force at two levels – local and national – is proving its effectiveness here, because this project was developed by the Antwerp police in collaboration with the federal police,” said Quitin.

He does not want to call the network a total surveillance system à la Minority Report, with a camera on every street corner, even if that’s what it comes down to, but “we must give ourselves the means to fight against the trade in weapons, drugs, or people.” The project will cost 10 million euros. In addition, the Minister is putting another 20 million on the table, which all Belgian municipalities can use to purchase cameras.

According to Koen Van Overtveldt, Director-General of Resource and Information Management at the Federal Police, there are also sufficient control mechanisms in place to prevent abuse of privacy.

“Every user must log in with a personal identification code,” says Van Overtveldt. “Access is monitored, and random checks are carried out. Citizens can file a complaint in case of abuse, and the Police Information Control Body can initiate an investigation on its own initiative.”

Milestone, also for EU cooperation

In 2023, Belgium had approximately 4,500 ANPR cameras, of which 3,650 were in Flanders and 400 in Wallonia. In the long term, this network should even grow into a “shield” of 10,000 cameras.

Now that Brussels is the first region to connect to the ANPR@GPI platform, work can also be done on EU cooperation. The platform facilitates cross-border tracking of stolen cars and criminal movements via Europe and the Schengen Information System (SIS II).

Although the UK remains a pioneer in deploying ANPR, Europe leads in ANPR adoption for public infrastructure, driven by stringent traffic regulations and innovative city initiatives.

Especially Germany and France are efficient frontrunners, adopting ANPR for automated border control and highway toll systems linked to environmental compliance. However, this is still far behind China, where there is almost one camera for every two people.

So, the Brussels ANPR integration is a milestone in Belgium’s national digital police strategy. Connecting additional ANPR cameras, for example, was a headache for a long time, just as the central database regularly experienced hours-long outages.