The Brussels-Capital region has a shortage of 768 police staff, reports Tuesday’s edition of Le Soir, based on figures released by the region Minister-President Rudi Vervoort. The lack of means allocated by the federal government is cited as the main cause by local councillors, whilst the Brussels-Capital region spends the most per inhabitant on police services.
According to a legal framework established at the time of police reform in 2001, the Brussels region currently has a shortage of 576 operational staff and 192 administrative and logistics staff. This shortage concerns the six areas of the capital but those most affected are Brussels-Capital-Ixelles, and Bruxelles-West, which contains the municipality of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. The office of the Minister-President added that this framework is obsolete as it was drawn up when the region only accommodated 964,000 inhabitants. Today, Brussels has a population estimated at 1.175 million.
(Source: Belga)
