Rudi Vervoort: “Crime decreased in Brussels more than anywhere else’’

Rudi Vervoort: “Crime decreased in Brussels more than anywhere else’’

“Between 2007 and 2016, the decrease of criminal acts is proportionally greater in the Brussels region than throughout the country”, sets forth Thursday Minister-President Rudi Vervoort (PS) in La Libre Belgique and L’Echo, tired of always hearing that Brussels is not “safe.’’ The number of infractions registered in Brussels decreased by 22% between 2006 and 2017, whereas it has only gone down by 13% nationally, and by 9% in the Walloon Region, for example.

“True, police crime statistics do not reflect the whole of criminality, but only that registered by police services following citizens’ complaints and police activity,’’ notes Mr. Vervoort. “In 2016, Brussels Region accounted for 16% of filed criminal acts at the national level,’’ he again underlined.

Criminality’s major decline concerns theft in or on vehicles (-61%), car thefts (-55%) or armed robbery (-43%), which shows a strong decrease in the last 10 years. It is in the capital, however, that one out of four thefts in or on a vehicle is committed, and one out of three violent acts.

According to federal police statistics, 167 persons were killed in Brussels between 2007 and 2016. There were two murders or assassinations per month on the regional territory in 2016.

Mr. Vervoort was speaking during a visit of the Brussels Region’s future communication and crisis center to be operational early 2019.


The Brussels Times


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