Following statements about drug use by police officers made by Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever, Belgium's Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden acknowledged that some police officers use drugs but could not give precise figures on possible disciplinary sanctions or dismissals.
In an interview about the ongoing drug violence in certain Antwerp districts, De Wever said that he has had to fire several police officers because of their drug use – a problem that was also acknowledged by the police union.
"We should not be blind to the fact that drug use occurs among the police, just like in other groups of society," Verlinden told VRT. "We act against it, but it is first and foremost the responsibility of the individual police officers to behave properly. And drugs are obviously not part of that."
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She added that action must be taken against police officers who are guilty of drug use: the police chiefs and mayors must decide whether to apply disciplinary sanctions. "Those disciplinary sanctions can then lead to dismissal in some cases."
While VRT has requested exact figures on disciplinary procedures and dismissals of police officers for drug-related offences from De Wever's office, a spokesperson said they cannot disclose them "for privacy reasons."
However, his office did say that in recent years "several disciplinary sanctions, including dismissal, have been imposed for cases involving drug use."
