The Federal Interior Minister Bernard Quintin (Francophone liberal), and the Federal Minister of Justice, Annelies Verlinden (Flemish Christian democrat) have both stressed the need for more police officers to be deployed onto the streets of Brussels. Their words follow a spate of shootings in the capital during the past week. In the latest incident a man was shot dead in Anderlecht in early hours of Friday morning.
New federal government intends to put more police officers onto the streets of Brussels
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Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Mr Quintin stressed the necessity of deploying more police officers onto the capital’s streets without giving any exact figures regarding how many additional police officers he has in mind.
Mr Quintin announced that officers from the Federal Police reserve would be deployed in Anderlecht from today (Friday 7 February) and that the police presence in the Brussels metro will also be strengthened. Additional officers will also be dispatched to assist the Brussels South Local Police Service that covers Anderlecht, Sint-Gillis and Vorst.
“The street belongs to the residents, not the drug traffickers” Mr Quintin said.
The Federal Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden underlined the need to tackle the trafficking of illegal firearms and drugs. “We need to work with our partners abroad to combat this phenomenon. We should not leave our streets to the criminals”.
Ms Verlinden added that she wishes to reinforce the drugs “hotspot” plan in the Brussels-Capital Region with the emphasis on V.I.P. (Very Irritating Police). V.I.P. involves a regular and visible police presence that is designed to drive away the dealers and their customers. In March 2024 the Brussels regional government identified 15 drugs hotspots in the capital. These each receive extra attention through a coordinated approach to policing and security.
Mr Quintin stressed that “everyone needs to take responsibility” from the producer to the consumer of drugs. “We have to work on combatting all forms of trafficking and the whole structure that underlies it, be it drugs, human trafficking, arms trafficking, etc. The stakes have been raised with the increasingly frequent use of combat grade weapons”.
1 local police service for the whole of Brussels
The Interior Minister also called for the 6 local police services in Brussels to be merged. This is part of the federal coalition agreement. Mr Quintin said that this isn’t “a gadget”, but rather a way of freeing up more resources and staff. The two ministers emphasised the specific nature of Brussels, the country's capital and a busy area with many people from all over the country coming there to work or just passing through on a daily basis. Furthermore, it is the countries largest conurbation with a population of around 1.2 million.