The Directorate of special units (DSU) (; ; )
is the
police tactical unit
A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained and equipped to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. The tasks of a ...
of the
Belgian Federal Police
The Belgian Federal Police (; ; ) is the national police force of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. It carries out specialized and supra-local administrative and judicial police operations, and supports local police services when needed. A ...
. In total, DSU consists of about 500 highly trained police officers. The centralized 50 operator small assault team of the intervention unit of the DSU is deployed in cases of
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
,
kidnapping
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
s, hostage taking and other forms of serious crime. DSU performs emergency responses, high-risk arrests and searches, observation operations, undercover operations and more.
Chief commissioner Eric Liévin, one of the DSU's former commanders, states that "a criminal dealing with the DSU, has a better chance of surviving than another; they try to use a minimal level of violence/force, and yet try to attain a maximum level of efficiency."
History
The original DSU was created within the former
Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie in 1972 in the aftermath of the
Munich massacre and was called
Group Diane
Group Diane (, ; known as Brigade Diane in 1973–75) was a former special forces unit of the Belgian Gendarmerie (1974-1976), later known as SIE/ESI. After the dissolution of the Gendarmerie SIE/ESI was later placed under a central direction c ...
.
In 1974 the name was changed from Diane to SIE (also outside Belgium, ) or ESI (, also known as ).
In the 1980s, the unit operated against pro-leftist groups.
In 2001, all Belgian police forces (municipal, judicial and Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie) were reformed into the integrated police structured on two levels, the local police and the federal police. The SIE/ESI took the form of the Directorate of special units (DSU), which was part of the newly created federal police. In 2007 the DSU was integrated into the Office of the General Commissioner (CG) and its name was changed to CGSU. Due to an optimization reform within the federal police that started in 2014, the special units were moved from the Office of the General Commissioner to the General directorate of the judicial police (DGJ), one of the three general directorates resorting under the Office of the General Commissioner. This was deemed more logical because of the operational and judicial nature of the assignments of the federal police's special units. Subsequently, the name and abbreviation was changed (back) to "Directorate of the special units (DSU)".
The DSU was deployed to hunt down suspects responsible for
bombing the Brussels metro and airport with one suspect apprehended.
Its manpower in 2012, consist of 450 police officers and 62 civilians.
On March 18, 2024, DSU officers were targeted by an arms and drug trafficking suspect during a search in
Lodelinsart
Lodelinsart () is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowlan ...
,
Charleroi
Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
. One agent was killed and two others were seriously and slightly injured. The gunman was also killed.
Organisation
The DSU is one of the four central directorates of the General directorate of the judicial police (DGJ), which is responsible for criminal investigations and anti-crime operations. The DSU consists of centralised units and decentralised units. The centralised units are called the "special units" and consist of:
* the Intervention unit
* the Observation unit
* the Undercover team (UCT)
* the National technical support unit (NTSU)
These are all stationed in a police caserne in
Etterbeek
Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...
.
There are four decentralised units, called "Protection, observation, support & arrest platoons" (POSA), spread over the country:
* POSA Gent
* POSA Antwerpen
* POSA Charleroi
* POSA Liège
Overall control of the DSU lies with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but depending on circumstances the unit can be deployed under operational control of the Ministry of Justice. Prior to 1994 the unit was commanded by the Ministry of Defense.
Two more specialised units also exist, one team has six trained
police dog
A police dog, also known as a K-9 (phonemic abbreviation of canine), is a dog that is trained to assist police and other law enforcement officers. Their duties may include searching for drugs and explosives, locating missing people, findin ...
s (They use Belgian Malinois) for detecting the presence of explosive materials or ammunition, the other one is the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team, which was created in 1978 after the
Los Alfaques disaster.
They've been involved in the
Herald of Free Enterprise disaster, the
Buizingen rail disaster in 2010 and
a bus accident in 2012 in Switzerland.
Tasks
DSU provides ongoing support to the federal and local levels in the areas of:
* Intervention and arrest (hostage and barricaded suspect situations)
* Provision of expertise and advice
* Special investigative techniques
* Specialized technical support
* Support of specialised means (divers, climbers, snipers, maritime operation, etc.)
* Support of the European Anti-terrorism organisation 'Atlas' with the possibility of deployment abroad
Equipment
Weapons
Gear
*UF PRO clothing during training
*Crye precision clothing during operation OD green
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{commons category, Directorate of special units
ATLAS Network
Police tactical units
Special forces of Belgium