Rising drug violence: Brussels considering new measures, including drones

The Brussels Regional Security Council met on Wednesday in response to rising levels of gun violence in Brussels, where six drug-related shootings took place in the space of a week.

“The aim is to put a long-term strategy in place,” said minister-president Boris Dilliès (MR).

“Drug dealers are a scourge and we must do everything in our power to tackle the drug trade at its root. This requires not only more human and material resources on the ground, but also better coordination between all parties involved.”

The meeting was attended by federal interior minister Bernard Quintin (MR), Brussels public prosecutor Julien Moinil, national drugs commissioner Ine Van Wymersch and the mayors and representatives of the police districts concerned.

Any new measures are coming on top of recent ones, which include the appointment of a Brussels drugs commissioner to take charge of coordinating an integrated regional strategy from the end of September and an additional €68 million allocated to security and prevention in 2026. The region has also banned shared scooters - which are often used as a means of escape during criminal offences - from 1 January 2027.

“This is not a one-off operation, but a long-term process,” Dilliès said.

“We want to dismantle the entire system. We will not neglect a single neighbourhood, and Brussels will not be abandoned.”

Quintin and his counterpart for justice, Annelies Verlinden (CD&V), plan to give a detailed account to a joint parliamentary committee regarding the recent shooting incidents in Brussels, according to Ismaël Nuino (Les Engagés), chair of the justice committee.

“The public needs a strong and swift response. This committee must not be yet another opportunity to pass the buck,” Nuino said.

“Over the past few days, we’ve seen enough politicians blaming one another while shots are being fired on the streets of Brussels. That spectacle has not protected anyone. The people of Brussels are not asking who is in the wrong. They want it to stop.”

Nuino also wants to see those responsible for security and justice in the capital called to account, such as the public prosecutor, the president of the court of first instance and the police “in order to take a serious stock of the situation, far removed from political polemics”.

One of the suggested measures being put forth by Dilliès is the use of drones to, among other things, track down perpetrators of shootings.

“The police stations with the highest risk must be equipped with drones to be able to track down criminals on the streets,” Dilliès told La Libre Belgique.

The aim is for a drone to be able to reach any location within the region within four minutes. The government would work with regional security agency Safe.brussels to have drones operational at the main drug hotspots by the end of 2027.

Safe.brussels already makes drones “available during events, search operations or targeted surveillance missions, and provides technological support to the law enforcement agencies,” the security service said.

But Dilliès’ new plan is already running into the same privacy issues faced by drones already in use. The Brussels-Capital/Ixelles police zone was reprimanded last autumn by the Police Information Supervisory Body (COC) because its drones were operated by an external company and presented as a pilot project, leading the COC to deem 144 recorded flights illegal.

Meanwhile, the police are actively training their own drone pilots through Safe.brussels in collaboration with the ULB, while Belgium’s defence ministry is already making extensive use of drones to monitor the Port of Antwerp.

Elsewhere in Europe, the use of drones in a security context is already considerably more advanced. In Lyon (France), a criminal network was dismantled just two weeks ago that had carried out more than 1,800 drone flights to deliver drugs. French police are also deploying drones and anti-drone technology themselves.

The Dilliès cabinet said that its plans for drones are still under discussion: “We’re investigating how the technological support we provide can evolve further to meet the needs on the ground,” it said.

But one concern that has already emerged is that drones would also fly over homes and people who have nothing to do with any incidents in question.

At present, police drones are subject to general legislation governing public CCTV, but if Dilliès’s plan is implemented, specific drone legislation could be called for.

“The day Big Brother arrives in Brussels, I’ll be on the other side of the barricades,” said Jean Spinette (PS), mayor of the crime hotspot Saint-Gilles.

The Brussels-Midi police zone, which includes Saint-Gilles, does not currently have any drones, but would receive them under the Dilliès plan.

Other experts are also critical of their use, including Ruben De Smet, a privacy researcher at the VUB.

“We’ll have footage of drug dealers, but also of people on the street and even people at home, if the drone operator films through windows,” said De Smet.

“That will cause privacy issues. Besides video, a drone can also record audio, but there are far fewer clear regulations surrounding that. Police forces will have to demonstrate the proportionality of their actions.”

De Smet also questions the effectiveness of drones in bringing down drug violence: “When I read that for every dealer arrested, two others turn up 10 minutes later, I wonder whether drones will actually be of any use.”

The privacy researcher also questions what else the use of drones might lead to.

“With ANPR [automatic number-plate recognition] cameras, it started with tracking down terrorists and has now moved on to identifying uninsured cars,” De Smet added.

“I can see things heading in that direction with drones as well. I can see the case for the fight against drug trafficking, but where does it end? Tracking down Brussels residents who jump red lights?”

In the meantime, residents and business associations who are tired of waiting for more debate and more anti-crime measures plan to take to the streets in Saint-Gilles on Sunday to protest against organised crime.

“Saint-Gilles must not become a war zone,” the organisers of the rally said, calling on people to “say ‘enough is enough’ to organised crime” and demand that the authorities “take their political responsibility”.

Brussels residents’ collectives, the Forty Committees, also released an open letter demanding immediate action following the recent spate of shootings. They state that both the federal government and Brussels politicians must “start taking action now that yet another line has been crossed”.