Police Watchdog Probes Mechelen Over Student-Written Reports

Belgium’s independent police watchdog, the Controleorgaan op de Politionele Informatie (COC), has launched a first-of-its-kind investigation into whether Politiezone Rivierenland — covering Mechelen, Bornem, Puurs-Sint-Amands, and Willebroek — allowed student workers to write official police reports (processen-verbaal, or PVs) for traffic violations. The probe, confirmed by COC Chairman Frank Schuermans, raises serious questions about the delegation of law enforcement duties to unqualified personnel.

Investigation Details

According to VRT NWS, the allegations center on the police zone’s traffic department, where student workers were reportedly deployed systematically to identify and document traffic offenses. The students were allegedly given direct access to confidential police databases — including ISLP, DIV, and ANG — as well as the city’s camera network, to detect violations.

“Deploying student workers to establish traffic violations is absolutely not allowed,” Schuermans told VRT NWS. “They may not hear or see personal data of third parties. Writing or processing a police report is therefore not allowed.”

HLN reported that students were instructed to remove their own names from the reports and replace them with the name of a police commissioner — a practice legal experts describe as forgery (valsheid in geschrifte). Some student workers were reportedly minors who were sent onto the streets to photograph illegally parked cars using their personal phones.

Legal Ramifications

The practices potentially violate multiple areas of Belgian law, including professional secrecy statutes, legislation on police information management, and forgery laws. Writing official police reports is a task exclusively reserved for sworn police officers, and granting unauthorized personnel access to sensitive police databases is a criminal offense.

Schuermans emphasized that while student workers may report an offense as a witness — like any other citizen — they cannot engage in enforcement or official documentation. “Systematically deploying student workers to establish traffic violations is also absolutely not allowed,” he said.

The COC, an independent federal parliamentary institution responsible for supervising police information management, confirmed this is the first time it has investigated a police zone for such practices.

Immediate Response

Police Zone Rivierenland has reportedly sent the student workers home with pay and instructed them not to write any more reports until after the summer. Spokesperson Koen Mortelmans stated the zone would not comment further as an involved party.

Bart Somers, Mayor of Mechelen and Chairman of the Police Zone, told HLN: “I can only say that the chief of police has evidently informed me that an investigation is underway and that we are fully cooperating. We await the investigation to see whether or not things need to be adjusted.”

Broader Implications

The investigation raises significant concerns about police accountability and resource management. Politiezone Rivierenland, formed on January 1, 2023 from a merger of two previous zones, is the third-largest police zone in Flanders after Antwerp and Ghent. The scale of potentially affected reports could be substantial.

Legal experts suggest that any traffic citations written by student workers could be challenged in court, potentially affecting thousands of traffic violation cases. Defense lawyers may argue these documents are invalid, creating a significant legal backlog.

The case also highlights data privacy concerns, as student workers — including minors — were given access to sensitive personal information of citizens through police databases. The unauthorized access to these systems represents a significant breach of data protection protocols.

What’s Next

The COC investigation is ongoing, and the full scope of the alleged practices — including how long they have been in place and how many student workers were involved — remains under review. The head of the traffic department is specifically mentioned as having signed off on the reports, raising the possibility of disciplinary actions or criminal charges against responsible officers.

The case has also prompted questions about whether other police zones in Belgium may be engaging in similar practices, though no evidence of this has yet emerged. The investigation’s outcome could lead to significant policy changes in how Belgian police zones manage resources and delegate administrative tasks.