Last year, the issue of local police was prominent in both the municipal and parliamentary elections. Now, it is becoming a reality.

On Monday morning, the pilot project was unveiled by the Minister of the Interior Léon Gloden, police director Pascal Peters, and mayors Lydie Polfer and Christian Weis. While 'municipal police' is not the correct term, 'local police' accurately describes the initiative.

Luxembourg City will receive 20 local police officers, and Esch will receive 4.

Léon Gloden pointed out that the 2018 Police Act had omitted the term "proximity," but the CSV-DP government remains committed to ensuring that officers are close to the community.

"Police officers know the people and the community, and the people know the police who are on the ground every day. Essentially, the police officers are good neighbours to the citizens. That's the purpose of today's pilot project. This is not an additional police force; the local police unit is an integral part of the current corps, with a special badge."

The badge, labelled 'Police Locale' in blue, is worn around the arm. The design is provisional and, like police uniforms in general, will be revised.

The officers in both cities will patrol from Monday to Saturday between 7am-9pm. Initially, they will be stationed at key locations: the station in both municipalities, the upper town in Luxembourg City, and the centre in Esch. The officers come from local commissariats.

The pilot phase will last six months and aims to help determine how the Police Act should be revised going forward.