430 pickpocket incidents were recorded last year on Brussels public transport, with the STIB operator remarking a four-year decline, La Capitale reports.
“It is not uncommon for pickpockets to work on the STIB network,” said MP Aurélie Czekalski (MR) before asking in writing for details of the number of thefts.
In 2019, 594 incidents were reported in 2019, 551 in 2020, and 271 in 2021. Whilst the figure for 2022 exceeds that in 2021, this was largely skewed by the pandemic which resulted in a major drop in the use of public transport.
“The drop recorded between 2020 and 2021 is linked to the containment measures taken by the government as part of the fight against Covid-19", specifies Elke Van den Brandt (Greens), Minister for Mobility.
For security reasons, the transport operator does not reveal where the thefts took place.
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Notably, STIB does not have the total number of thefts reported in public transport as many victims make their complaints only to the police. The public transport operator does regularly collaborate with the police for its security operations.
"STIB has a pre-recorded message which is activated in real-time by the dispatch or the staff when the presence of pickpockets is reported or observed on its network", Van den Brandt explained.
