CCTV expansion around Place Hamilius

The Luxembourg City municipal council voted in favour of installing 21 new CCTV cameras along the entirety of Boulevard Royal, the top part of Grand-Rue, Rue Aldringen and around Rue de la Poste, in addition to the three cameras already in existence.

Mayor Lydie Polfer said increased video surveillance was necessary in the city centre due to the rising number of criminal offences recorded by the police in the area.

963 infractions were registered by the police in the area around Hamilius last year, compared to 420 in 2019, 503 in 2020 and 560 in 2021. Polfer said the figures backed up a general feeling and reality of insecurity in the area.
The DP, CSV and LSAP parties voted in favour of expanding video surveillance. The Green party agreed that increased surveillance was required on the site itself and at transport stops, but disagreed with the extended CCTV area, claiming it would merely have a displacement effect into other streets, much like the Gare.

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Councillor François Benoy added that the crime figures in themselves were partly misleading, as the data covered a much larger area with a larger flow of people. The Greens therefore abstained from voting on the matter.

Guy Foetz of the Left (déi Lénk) pointed out the difficulty in estimating the city's crime rates, as recent data was compared with quieter Covid lockdown years. Foetz said the council should re-evaluate data from the area around Hamilius as Avenue Monterey and Grand-Rue are long streets, and the proposed CCTV extension was therefore unacceptable. The Left voted against the motion.

In addition, the Grand Ducal police will take over camera surveillance at the European Convention Centre on Place de l'Europe in Kirchberg, which is in use for three months a year when the European Council is in session. Even here, however, video surveillance will be extended up to the area in front of the Infinity Tower.