Police and hotels agree to better help tourists report a crime

The Brussels municipalities of Schaerbeek, Evere and Saint-Josse-ten-Noode together with the hotels of the Brussels Hotels Association (BHA) have signed an agreement to improve access to police services for foreign visitors.

“This agreement aims to significantly improve the accessibility and user-friendliness of police services for hotels and foreign visitors – a first in Belgium,” said Rodolphe Van Weyenbergh, secretary-general of the BHA.

Tourists will now be able to report incidents more easily through an app accessed in their hotel.

“It regularly happens that foreign visitors do not report a non-urgent incident they have suffered during their stay with us until they return from their trip,” said Cécile Jodogne, president of the Brussels-North police college and acting mayor of Schaerbeek.

“These are often administrative hassles that could sometimes be avoided if the incident had been reported immediately to the police in Belgium.”

The Brussels-North police zone developed an application that allows foreign visitors to report non-urgent incidents to the police online via their hotel counter.

An incident form will then be generated at the local police zone. This app works with the police’s existing web platform, which is only accessible to Belgian residents.

Hotels will also be able to report incidents to the police, who will then have the information they need to take the necessary steps to ensure an appropriate police response. Each hotel will have a clearly identified point of contact within the police zone.

“Thanks to this new tool and our partnership with BHA, many people who do not live in Belgium will be able to benefit from better care as victims,” said Olivier Slosse, chief of police for the Brussels-North zone.