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🇧🇪 Belgium /Crime & Justice

Heist-op-den-Berg launches plainclothes police team to prevent shoplifting and drug dealing

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Heist police have created a five-member PROA team to prevent crime before it occurs.
  • The plainclothes officers will focus on shoplifting, drug dealing and travelling offenders, using police intelligence to conduct targeted checks.
  • The team will also support other police services by gathering information and preparing operations.

A new five-member police team in Heist-op-den-Berg will work without uniforms to detect and prevent crime before it happens.

The PROA team, which began operating on September 1, consists of one chief inspector and four inspectors. Police say the officers will gather and analyse “soft information”, including suspicions and signals received by the force.

The intention is not only to act after something happens, but above all to detect certain offences or criminal phenomena as early as possible and prevent them where possible

— Jana De RooverThe Heist police spokesperson explained the preventive purpose of the new unit.

That information can lead to targeted checks. If police receive reports of drug dealing at particular locations, the team can carry out focused inspections. It can also investigate suspected fraudsters in specific neighbourhoods, including door-to-door work related to computer fraud.

Working anonymously should allow the officers to operate discreetly, intervene while offences are occurring and prepare operations targeting specific people or criminal phenomena. The stated aim is to identify offences as early as possible and prevent them where possible.

For example, we may have information about drug dealing at certain places. Then they carry out very targeted checks

— Jana De RooverDe Roover described how the team will use police information to direct operations.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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