Crime fell by 7.8% in Liege last year compared to 2019, according to the city’s police force.
Liege Police Corps Chief Jean-Marc Demelenne and Mayor Willy Demeyer presented the crime statistics for 2022 at a press conference at police headquarters in Rue Natalis on Wednesday.
The first finding was that crime has fallen, on average, by 7.8%. Robberies, for example, went down by 20%, Demelenne said.
“We took 2019 as the reference year, without taking into account the pandemic years, which were not representative in terms of crime since all social life was disrupted,” the police chief explained.
“The points that have improved meet our objectives of the zone security plan, particularly with regard to theft, both in homes and on the public highway," he said. "These phenomena are decreasing, as is the number of traffic accidents.”
On the other hand, drug offences increased by 29.7%, environmental offences by 45.1% and public health offences by 18.3%.
“These are mainly due to the fact that police activity and the search for offences have been stepped up,” Delemenne explained. “In road safety, the more we check, the more offences we find and the more the figures increase. A parallel can be drawn with drugs, even if the scale of the phenomenon affects all the major European cities.”
Liège Mayor Willy Demeyer said he was satisfied with the work of the police. “We can see that the police are listening to the town council, the population; they work with the judiciary and all this works well,” Demeyer emphasised.
The Liege police say they intend to continue their work. “Our attention will always be focused on making public space safe, fighting against drug addiction, but also on the nuisances linked to this addiction, i.e. urban incivilities,”Demelenne said.
“Cleanliness and illegal dumping are also part of our priorities, as is road safety,” the chief of police added.
Mayor Demeyer believes there is still work to be done on the local environment, but the ongoing tram works complicate the task. “We will have to work on the living environment in Liege, i.e. noise, traffic and making sure that the city is peaceful, but it will be easier when the tram works are finished,” he said.
The chief of police stressed the importance of filing complaints. “A complaint can be filed online, but also in one of our five reception points open during the day, including one 24 hours a day located at the police hotel on rue Natalis,” he said.
