New ANPR camera system to combat organised crime and drug trafficking

23 August 2025

A new national automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system will be launched in September, as the old one has become unstable and overloaded. Police in Brussels will begin connecting 450 cameras to combat organised crime and drug trafficking.

After the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016, the federal government deployed a network of ANPR cameras. However, the system has become obsolete.

Police can no longer connect new cameras or monitor average speeds and data flows have increased significantly, causing stability issues.

New police zones unable to connect to ANPR camera system for two years

No new police zones have been able to link their automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to Belgium’s national database since May 2023...

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The new national platform, ANPR@GPI, will bring together images from all connected cameras, old and new. Up to 5,000 cameras can be connected to it. If necessary, this can be extended to 10,000.

“ANPR cameras are fantastic tools for improving road safety, but also for combating organised crime, which knows no borders,” Interior minister Bernard Quintin said in a press release.

“We are providing our services with a stable and modern system for bringing together images from across the entire territory, and innovative tools for making the most of them.”

"ANPR cameras are fantastic tools for improving road safety, but also for combating organised crime, which knows no borders"

The Brussels police zones will be the first to connect 450 cameras. Cameras will then be connected by province or region, according to identified needs. The operation should be complete by 2026.

Data protection

Images will be made available to local and federal police forces. They will carry out analysis using FOCUS-ANPR, an advanced tool developed by Antwerp police.

Legally, police have access to images for one month. Any longer access requires the approval of the public prosecutor. The data will be hosted in federal data centres. In accordance with the Police Act and GDPR regulations, it may only be used as part of investigations, and every consultation must be recorded.

^{ANPR cameras in East Flanders, December 2024 © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}

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