The new Brussels Regional Security Plan 2021-2024 does not satisfy the wish for a better security policy

The new plan is more concise than its predecessor, with fewer priority themes and associated measures. It also underestimates the seriousness of certain criminal phenomena of organised crime, such as drug trafficking and human smuggling.” According to Brussels MP Mathias Vanden Borre, there is no question of a unified regional security policy. “The unity of command remains far from being achieved.”

Growing organised crime not a priority

The new Regional Security Plan (Gewestelijk Veiligheidsplan, GVP) sets only nine priorities. Compared to the previous GVP, the new version lacks the theme of “Organised crime & smuggling of goods”. Yet organised crime is plaguing Brussels, among others through the smuggling of weapons, drugs and people, says Mathias Vanden Borre. “For example, on the one hand, the large increase in the number of registered offences related to drug trafficking (+19%) and weapons (+169%) compared to 2018 and, on the other hand, the spectacular increase in the number of court cases related to criminal organisations (+68%) and the import, export, and transit of weapons or ammunition (+300%), prove that organised crime is growing in the Brussels-Capital Region.”

Nothing about tackling drug gangs that make districts unliveable

In the “Drugs & Addictions” theme, we read nothing about the approach to drug gangs. However, drug gangs have a very negative impact on the quality of life of various districts in Brussels. For example, a war has raged between various drug gangs in recent months, resulting in fatalities. “Chiefs of police and other actors, such as the MIVB, also testify that drug trafficking is often the cause of a soured relationship with the people of Brussels. Just look at bus line 89 in Molenbeek, which is no longer welcome due to local drug gangs. The numbers don’t lie: drug possession and narcotics trafficking increased in 2019 by 91% and 112% respectively compared to 2010. Apart from opening a drug centre, the Brussels government is doing almost nothing to combat drug trafficking. We may not be able to win the war, but we have to keep fighting because drug trafficking is also infiltrating other segments of our society,” Mathias Vanden Borre says.

The local approach to prostitution does not work

Finally, in the GVP of 2021-2024, after having already had to read it in the GVP of 2017-2020 and the Coalition Agreement of 2019-2024, we read exactly the same measure regarding tackling the prostitution problem, namely the introduction of intermunicipal coordination. The municipalities of Brussels City, Schaarbeek and Sint-Joost-ten-Node have opted for a purely local approach for decades. The Region, and in particular Minister-President Rudi Vervoort (PS), are failing to act. But this local approach clearly doesn’t work, says Mathias Vanden Borre. “The liveability of the Alhambra district has been undermined for decades by the presence of street prostitution that is accompanied by public indecency, drug use and noise and odour nuisance. Numerous attempts by the Brussels city council to punish street prostitution with municipal administrative sanctions have proved fruitless. In addition, the problems in Schaarbeek, and certainly also in Sint-Joost, remain particularly serious and unworthy of our capital.”

No unity of command

The new GVP was presented to the internal affairs committee on Tuesday. “Based on this document, we cannot speak of a unified Regional Security Policy. The unity of command, as also requested in the conclusions of the coronavirus commission, is still far from being achieved,” Mathias Vanden Borre says.