A special issue of JBH devoted to the history of the police and public order in Belgium

To mark the end of 2025 on a high, our journal proudly presents a double issue of unprecedented richness devoted entirely to the history of the police and public order in Belgium. Coordinated by Jonas Campion (University of Quebec), Margo De Koster (Ghent University), Antoine Renglet (UCLouvain) and Xavier Rousseaux (UCLouvain), this thematic issue features original contributions that shed light on the evolution of policing over the course of nearly two centuries from a variety of angles.

The introduction provides an overview of the historiography of modern and contemporary police history in Belgium written by the editorial team cited above.

This is followed by an article by Virginie Coumans (Archives of the City of Brussels), Luc Keunings (ULB-UCLouvain), Christophe Loir (ULB) and Thomas Schlesser (ULB) on the foundations of Brussels police knowledge through an analysis of Van Bersel's Dictionnaire de police municipale (1842), which reveals the tensions between regulatory innovation and obsolete legacies. In their contribution, Jonas Maas (UGent) and Pieter Leloup (UGent) focus on the regulation of prostitution in Brussels behind the scenes (1844–1914) and the ambiguous role of the vice squad in public morality.

The establishment of a genuine aliens’ police force before 1914, which was supported by a complex network of actors and information systems, is explored in an article by Torsten Feys (Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee).

Next, Maïté Van Vyve (UGent) demonstrates, through the analysis of an anarchist attack in Liège in 1894, how the police force in Liège was a true early laboratory for transnational security cooperation.

In his article on the purge of police commissioners after 1945, Antoine Renglet sheds new light on the tensions between repression and the reorganisation of the police apparatus at the time.

Michaël Amara (State Archives) and Arnaud Charon (State Archives) consider the evolution of information management within the gendarmerie, which went from simple recording to a sophisticated preventive control system.

Jonas Campion and Elie Teicher’s (University of Lausanne) contribution explores the links between the police and cinema since the 1960s, considering the internal uses of images and militant counter-discourses.

Finally, Vincent Mazy (UCLouvain) and Xavier Rousseaux analyse the territorial location of gendarmerie barracks, which have functioned as symbols of authority, proximity and state control since 1796.

This detailed and fascinating special issue is an essential milestone in Belgian police historiography. We hope you enjoy it!

This issue is on sale for €25.00 (excluding postage) and can be ordered from CegeSoma, Square de l'Aviation 29, 1070 Brussels, +32 2/556 92 11 - cegesoma@arch.be.