Local police zones across Belgium have declared "huge shortages", with 2,500 extra police officers needed overall and 800 unfilled vacancies in Flanders alone, Gazet van Antwerpen reports.
Shortages of police officers across the country have risen to as high as 2,500, with police zones in the Antwerp province falling short by almost 110 officers, totalling 800 in Flanders.
The Brussels-Midi police zone, meanwhile, should have 1,035 local officers, but reportedly only had 806 on 30 June, according to figures from Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden. The five other Brussels police zones are also falling short, with 800 officers needed across the Belgian capital in total.
In Flanders, too, the province of Antwerp lacks almost 110, Flemish Brabant needs 275, and East Flanders is a staggering 386 officers short. Limburg is the only Belgian province where there are no major shortages.
"We want to offer our residents sufficient quality in terms of security," responded Mayor of Hasselt Steven Vandeput. "Given the many security challenges in our region, including the rise of online crime, more police officers are needed today than ever before."
According to VUB criminology professor Sofie De Kimpe, the labour market situation is a factor in Limburg. "Several large companies have left Limburg in recent years, which has made it easier for the Limburg police zones to find enough recruits."
The huge shortages in both local and federal police are nothing new. To tackle the issue, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden aims to recruit as many as 1,600 new police officers each year, and states that she has already achieved this in 2021 and 2022.
'Far from sufficient'
But police union VSOA says more work must be done to recruit new officers. The union describes Verlinden's initiative as "far from sufficient to make up for the huge shortages, considering the significant annual outflow due to people quitting or retiring."
The VSOA also questioned the initiative's success, stating that "last year, only 1,280 new police officers actually joined the police force – 320 fewer officers than the Minister promised."
"The key to finding enough police officers is to make the statute more attractive," VSOA's Vice-President, Vincent Houssin, argued. "[This is] something that the government promised, but it has not been put into practice. Furthermore, in our view, the government has made the status of police officers even worse than it already was. As a result, those interested in a police job are now applying elsewhere, which only threatens to make the staff shortage worse."
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The most understaffed police force in the whole country is that of the Berlaar-Nijlen police zone, according to an overview N-VA Minister Koen Metsu requested from Verlinden. The current shortfall in the zone is estimated at no less than 33%. Specifically, the force is short of 24 officers and six administrative staff.
Mayor of Berlaar, Walter Horemans, stressed that the large shortage has not led to serious security issues: "We are a small, quiet police zone. We also have the lowest number of burglaries in the province of Antwerp. Nevertheless, we are still looking for reinforcement, but young police officers often prefer a bit more action in a busier zone anyway."
