European police forces discuss the organisation of large events in Mons

The European Police College (Cepol) held discussions in Mons from Thursday through to Tuesday. It made some decisions concerning the organisation of large events, like the Ducasse in Mons. Twenty eight European police chiefs spent 5 days discussing protocols. The head of the Mons-Quévy police, Marc Garin, who will host Cepol in Mons during 2015, called the seminar between the European police chiefs a success. It ended at SHAPE in Casteau on Tuesday.  

This year, Cepol is exchanging crowd control protocols for large events. ‘We were able to show our European colleagues the different ways we controlled the crowds during Mons’ Ducasse, which took place last weekend”, says Marc Garin. Around 250,000 people attend the Mons event every year.

“Our colleagues were able to observe the measures taken in Mons, including the size of terraces, the ban on selling alcohol stronger than 15 degrees, the music zone limits, crowd control during the Ducasse ritual on Sunday, etc. Our colleagues saw our “community policy” technique: we are quite close to the population. We have been doing the preparations for this event in conjunction with the emergency services, security services, and Mons authorities for a long time. That is not the case in other countries”.

The head of the Mons police said he had not noticed a significant increase in incidents compared to other years during Ducasse 2015. “Apart from last week’s terrorist threats, there has been nothing bad to report”, he said. 

(Source: Belga)


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