The ‘Top Cop Awards’ celebrate vertical interpretations. Exceptionally, among the laureates of the 28th edition that took place this October 15 in Washington, there was also place in … a Belgian together. First Chief Inspector Olivier Hardy was called to death because he had succeeded in an attack on the American embassy in Brussels.

“At first I thought it was a joke from my colleagues, especially since I heard the news around April 1, smiles Olivier Hardy. The first inspector of the Federal Judicial Police of Brussels, head of an investigative team of the investigation department ‘anti-terrorism’ (OA3) was a very strong invitation to get for the ceremony of the ‘Top Cops Awards’. Although that award is not well known to us, it is widely known in the United States. Its purpose: to carry out the exercise of their professional activities have an effective implementation. The awards will be issued at an official ceremony in Washington that showcases the nation’s police elite, invited guests from the political world, and careful representations.

The file OA3 above was chosen from hundreds of others submitted to the ONAP (National Association of Police Organizations), which awards the awards.

Olivier Hardy and, through him, OA3 and the FGP of Brussels, thus win the ‘Honorable Mention Award’ in the ‘international’ category. “I was made aware of the award when the results were published. I want the FBI to have the way we developed that investigation. My representation department. After all, I didn’t work alone.

teamwork

After all, it is tremendous teamwork that OA, supported by its partners, was able to thwart an attack on the US embassy in Brussels in 2019. On June 2019, we received information that a concrete threat was made against the United States embassy. was located and picked up by our unit in less than 24 hours, the perfect collaboration between all actors,” explains Olivier Hardy, in charge of the file at the time of the facts.

The researchers managed to find the trajectory of the individual. “Together with the members of our team, we managed to make the preparations of the suspect and all others during the preparation of the attacking facts enormous. This enabled us to make concrete explorations in the vicinity of the American embassy in Brussels. and that he was looking for weapons with the clear aim of committing a violent attack against members of the diplomatic institution of Islamic State.”

After his trial, the perpetrator was provoked to a thorough of 7 years for his participation in the activities of a terrorist group and for the preparatory acts revealed by the investigation.

One person in the spotlight, but a whole team of fun

Olivier Hardy is eager to share the praise that was paid after this investigation. “It is a great honor for me to receive such a reward, but one must of course know that judicial investigations, which are becoming more complex, cannot be brought to a successful conclusion by a single investigator. The quality work that all members of my investigative team and their colleagues from the Federal Judicial Police and the Police Zone South, who have supported us, from the Technical and Scientific Police (DJT) and from our special units. Also cooperation with the intelligence services was very good. They took directing the investigation itself.”

When Olivier took delivery, they were mainly looking forward to his colleagues from OA3 and more specifically to the members of his team. “I would have loved to receive that award in their presence. Unfortunately, due to the covid rules, I was only present with our liaison officer, First Head Patrick Stevens.”

Active since 1994

Since joining OA3, Olivier has led several stories. “She requires meticulous work, taking many more months and even several years. That’s the kind of result you draw,” explains Olivier, who started out as an operational term analyst. “I started working for the gendarmerie in 1994 and it was the meeting with an investigating judge that made me want to focus on the fight against criminals. I have never regretted it!” quality of his work. “Others even deserve it as much as I do to be recognized. And I think we should think about hosting such a ceremony with us!”

More information: https://www.napo.org/top-cops/