With drug-related violence escalating in the Porte de Hal area – which has seen four shootings in recent days – politicians are proposing a raft of measures to tackle the Capital Region's drug problem, including the creation of a Brussels drugs coordinator.
The increasing violence isn't limited to the municipality of Saint-Gilles, with Anderlecht and the City of Brussels also affected. Calls are now making the case for a new approach that will deal with the problem structurally and at the source.
"It is very clear that drug trafficking is at the root of the problem. This must therefore be tackled at the source," Zeynep Balci, spokesperson for Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort, told The Brussels Times. "Our services are on the ground every day but our local police are not properly equipped. We can't keep mopping up with the tap fully on."
A Brussels drugs commissioner
For Nadia Naji, Brussels resident and co-chair of the Flemish ecologist Groen party, the issue requires coordination at the regional level. "The problem doesn't stop at municipal borders and neither should tackling it. A Brussels drugs commissioner can provide the overarching, regional approach that is lacking today."
However, a coordinating drugs commissioner will not solve the problem by themselves, Naji told Belga News Agency. "They will only be successful if work is also done to strengthen both the Brussels and federal police."
Vervoort, however, is not in favour of the idea of a regional drug commissioner: "The idea of regionalising the problem of managing the fight against drug trafficking via this coordination function is very dangerous."
According to the police chief of the Brussels Midi police zone Jurgen De Landsheer, the Midi zone's police force has a 20% staff shortage – equal to over 200 police officers.
Police pictured on the scene where a person was shot and killed at the square Jacques Franck in Saint-Gilles on Wednesday 14 February 2024. Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Naji stated that funding for Brussels police zones is based on how the city was 20 years ago. "The population was smaller then, as were the social challenges. It is time for funding to move in line with reality." And it isn't only the police that needs reinforcement but also the Brussels Prosecutor's Office. "Otherwise, strengthening the police will have no impact but will only lead to more cases that get dismissed."
Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette agrees that the problem must be tackled from the top, stressing the importance of a judicial police force with sufficient resources. At the same time, the local police zone must be fully supported and an integrated approach must be overseen by Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden and the national drugs commissioner Ine Van Wymersch.
Van Wymersch echoed the call for more resources: "The violence of the past few days is unfortunately nothing new. Nor should it be inevitable. The answer is clearly to strengthen the multidisciplinary and integrated approach."
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The office of the national drugs commissioner has called for a drug fund and said that funds are being discussed at the political level. On Monday 19 February, the office will meet with the Brussels Midi police zone to see how they can be supported.
Vervoort's spokesperson Balci stressed that the Brussels regional government has already held several inter-federal discussions on this matter, also conferring with agencies on the ground and with the housing companies. "We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, another meeting is planned soon."
"We are doing our part but the fight against drug trafficking needs to be strengthened at the federal level as soon as possible, just as the Federal Prosecutor and the police chiefs are requesting."
