Interior Minister Bernard Quintin (MR) is pushing forward to ensure the merger of the six Brussels police zones will be finalised before summer, he told various local media. However, the merger is being met with resistance, especially in Brussels.
Belgium has one federal police force to manage large-scale crime while 196 zones represent local policing. Six of these zones are spread across the 19 municipalities of Brussels. Zone mergers have occurred in many other Belgian cities.
Quintin, who was the Foreign Affairs Minister in the previous government, stated he would present the plan for the police merger to the government and Prime Minister Bart De Wever (N-VA) in the coming weeks.
He aims to complete this before summer. This will allow time for fine-tuning during the rest of the legislature, before starting to implement it at the beginning of next year. Quintin then foresees another two years to iron out the teething problems and fine-tune the structure.
Steadfast opposition
All 19 Brussels mayors have repeatedly voiced their "unanimous" opposition to the measure. They argue that inter-police zone collaboration in Brussels already works well, and that the zones are already much bigger than in other Belgian cities. Mayors also want more support for local branches forced to deal with "issues that go beyond borders", namely crime-related to international drug trafficking.
Quintin confirmed in La Libre Belgique that he already met with 17 out of 19 mayors on this subject and that they remain steadfast that it is not a good idea. He emphasised that the goal is not to concentrate resources in specific zones at the expense of others, asserting that 75% of resources will remain for community policing to maintain local awareness and efficiency.
However, Quintin is convinced that the mayors of Brussels will not be able to stop the merger from happening, as this is a federal competence included in the coalition agreement. "I will implement the merger. Full stop. In consultation if possible, by force if necessary," the MR politician told the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.
He also reiterated his intention to tackle organisations involved in drug trafficking, with a new plan targeting narcotics.
