There is a pessimistic mood prevailing between Minister for Internal Security Henri Kox and the country's largest police union SNPGL. The latter's president, Pascal Ricquier, was invited to RTL Radio on Thursday morning.
Concretely, the union criticises the minister for publishing incorrect numbers and "attacking" the union on the police's internal communication platform. "That is a disloyal and one-sided move that we cannot counter, especially given that only the minister's words were published and not ours", explains Ricquier. The union's comments were published following an interview with Kox on RTL, where the union had accused the minister of making false statements regarding the size of the police force and its recruitment.
The ministry had forbidden the union to publish the latter's own data, but the SNPGL criticises the move as the ministry's data was found not to be correct nor transparent, says Ricquier.
Private security firms in Gare district
Regarding private security firms patrolling the streets of the Gare district, the SNPGL's president stressed that everyone is going around in circles: The security firms may not intervene in a situation and must notify the police. The police meanwhile, don't have the required manpower and time to handle all affairs.
There is a lack of personnel, the SNPGL concludes. There are matters than can be delegated to "community agents", for example prisoner transport. Boosting manpower will not resolve this issue, Ricquier concludes.
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