The number of police officers in the Brussels Capital-Ixelles police zone has never been as high as in 2019.
While the Brussels-Capital Ixelles police zone complained about a shortage of manpower several years ago, the biggest police zone in Belgium had a record number of staff members in 2019, according to a presentation of the police zone's budget.
In 2019, 100 people were hired, bringing the total number of staff members to 2650, a new record. 378 of those employees are civilians, the rest are all police officers.
"The increase is due to budgetary choices we made," said Brussels Mayor Philippe Close, reports Bruzz, "not to additional federal support," he said, adding that another 100 officers will be added in 2020.
This year, the zone's ordinary budget will increase from €231 million to €234.7 million. The extraordinary budget, for investments, will also increase, going from €17.6 million to €19.6 million.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
