Abstract

In this paper, produced in the framework of an internal seminar regarding the place of migrants in the police, for the first time the available knowledge regarding the inclusion of ‘migrants’ in the police forces in Belgium is assessed through a review of political, scientific and professional sources. The analysis encompasses the terms used to describe this population, for example as ‘new Belgians’, the evolution of the context and the motives given since the nineties to the development of initiatives aimed at increasing the presence of those particular citizens amongst police forces, as well as the debates on those issues. The presentation of the concrete modalities of this integration, based on the previously stated knowledge and its obvious limitations, focuses on the known outcomes of those initiatives and the gap between what is said and what is done. It is therefore a first step towards a better understanding of a recurrent issue. As such, it might contribute to further debates, whether in the political or the professional fields.