Plan to cut number of police zones in Belgium by two-thirds

Interior minister Bernard Quintin (MR) wants to reduce the total number of local police zones in Belgium from 176 to 60.

“The current fragmentation, with 176 police zones, is not good for security,” Quintin wrote in a column printed in Het Laatste Nieuws.

“Who can explain to me why there are 23 police zones in Flemish Brabant for 1.2 million inhabitants, which is almost the same population as in Brussels?”

Brussels has six police zones for its similarly sized population - with talk of those six eventually being merged into just one.

“I am strongly insisting that we work towards major mergers throughout the country, but this must also be in line with the realities on the ground,” Quintin told press.

While discussions are under way in Brussels to merge the six current zones into a single one, on a mandatory basis, Quintin said mergers should be voluntary for the rest of the country.

He aims to encourage police zones to join forces voluntarily by offering them extra funding through reforms of the federal funding standard.

A meeting of the internal affairs committee is scheduled for 10 February in the Chamber of Representatives to discuss the draft bill on these future mergers, but Quintin already has support from the VSOA police union.

“The current system is outdated and fragmented, but such a reform must be preceded by a thorough study,” said VSOA chairman Vincent Houssin.

“The budget of police services varies enormously from municipality to municipality, which means that some services have sufficient resources and others can only afford one or two night patrols.”

The trade union emphasised that Quintin’s plan must be based on thorough research, explaining that a merger depends on all kinds of parameters, such as population size, additional responsibilities at the national border or the presence of a prison in the region.

The plan must include minimum standards for each zone and make operations more efficient, according to VSOA, without being a hidden cost-cutting exercise.

“Two plus two must equal five, not three,” said Houssin. “Such a plan must contribute to more police on the streets and greater safety.”