The Directorate of Protection at full speed

16 January 2015

Since its creation in October 2014, the Directorate of Protection (DAP) has carried out all the specialised missions of the Federal Police.

The number of missions it performs considerably increased after the searches conducted in Verviers on 15 January 2015 in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. Indeed, the raising of the terrorist threat level to three made it necessary to protect many Belgian politicians, either on an ad hoc or on a permanent basis.

A few months later, DAP took over the protection missions previously carried out by the Special Units (DSU). The searches conducted by DSU as part of the fight against terrorism led to the arrest of a great number of dangerous people. Therefore, the transfers of these detainees (hearings, court appearances, etc.) were all performed by DAP’s staff members.

The government agreements provide that DAP will also take over all the State Security’s protection missions in the course of 2016. DAP will then become the single point of contact for specialised protection in Belgium. This file is currently being finalised.