Despite concerns expressed by some, including many Francophone politicians in the capital, the Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin (Francophone liberal) has said that the merger of the 6 local police services that serve the Brussels-Capital Region will come sooner rather than later. He intends to present a bill to parliament on this issue as early as this summer.
Interior says “Merger of Brussels local police services police zones is coming. End of story!”
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On Monday Mr Minister Quintin told various Flemish media outlets, including the VRT, that he intends to present his plans to the Federal Prime Minister Bart De Wever (Flemish nationalist) in the coming weeks. The bill should be put before parliament in the summer and “we will start implementing the merger at the beginning of next year.”
The Interior Minister added that he will then give himself two years to eliminate any teething troubles and ‘fine-tune’ the merger operation.
Mr Quintin also indicated that the mayors of the 19 Brussels municipalities will not be able to do anything to stop the merger of the capital’s local police services. Many of the capitals mayors are opposed to creation of 1 local police service to cover all the 19 municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region. “This merger is a federal matter. It is in the coalition agreement. I will ensure that the merger is carried out, end of story. Through mutual cooperation if possible and forced through if necessary.”
The Minister of the Interior told VRT News that the aim of this merger is to improve the efficiency of the police in Brussels. He said that around 25% of the officers in the current local police areas would be available for operations within the entire Brussels-Capital Region. The other 75% would belong to the local policing units. In total, the local police force in Brussels will number around 6,500 officers after the merger.
Talks with the mayors
Mr Quintin stated that he was already in talks with the capital’s mayors. He had already spoken to the mayors of 17 of the 19 Brussels municipalities. He said that he is on the same wavelength as most of them, “Because I have the same concerns as they do”.
The Interior Minister also said that new officers will be recruited and trained to address the shortfall of 800 police faced by the capital’s local police services at the end of 2023.