“The Brussels government has not sufficiently exercised its powers in the field of security,” said party chairman Sammy Mahdi. For example, he referred to the situation in the Peterbos district and the addiction problems in the Brussels metro and train stations. That is why CD&V proposed fourteen measures to increase safety in the Brussels region.
Unified police zone
Initially, the party advocates more blue on the streets. “We want to see the number of community police officers in the capital doubled,” says Brussels MP Bianca Debaets. “This can be done, for example, by focusing more on local recruitment, of people who know what is going on in certain neighborhoods and from diverse backgrounds. That can reduce the distance between certain neighborhoods and the police.”
To achieve this, the budget that municipalities invest in the local police would also have to increase. “In Antwerp this amounts to 500 euros per inhabitant annually. While many Brussels municipalities do not even reach 300 euros per year.” More bicycle brigades, local neighborhood antennas and a multilingual tourist police will also follow.
CD&V is also in favor of a unified police zone, coordinated by the Prime Minister. “Now the police must submit a request if they want to consult images from another zone. That has to be more efficient.”
Long-term
As far as the addiction problem is concerned, the Christian Democrats want to see a more multidisciplinary approach. There are already initiatives on Brussels territory, such as the Sublink project and user spaces. But according to the party, these are currently insufficient.
“There must be more focus on cooperation between security services and actors in the social and health sectors, with more guidance in the long term,” says Debaets. “Visitors in the user areas today end up on the street again after their consumption,” says the MP. “There is a need for longer-term solutions, through forced admissions, for example.”
Eric Vandezande of citizen collective ’40 committees’ also thinks so. “Projects such as Sublink and the user areas are a step in the right direction. They have already produced positive results. But more is indeed needed to tackle the addiction problem. Closer cooperation between security services and social and health actors could help. “
