Aside from being charged with issuing parking fines, municipal agents are now also tasked with monitoring an additional 17 types of violations.
However, it still remains in the hands of municipalities to decide which infractions their municipal agents should penalise with ‘administrative municipal sanctions” (SAC), according to the respective law from 27 July 2022.
Each town is free to decide how many municipal agents to hire. According to the Association of Municipal Agents (ASAM), there are 227 municipal agents spread across 45 municipalities in Luxembourg at present.
The capital (133,000 residents) tops the ranking with 89 agents, followed by Esch-sur-Alzette (37,000 residents) with 35 agents, Differdange (29,500 residents) with 14 agents, and Dudelange (22,000 residents) with 12 agents.
Pétange (20,500 residents) has five agents on duty while Strassen (10,500 residents) has four, same as both Ettelbruck (10,000 residents) and Diekirch (7,500).
The tasks that agents fulfil on a daily basis vary from town to town, says ASAM president Steve Hatto. In some cases parking violations remain the number one issue, for others it might be vandalism, he further explained and drew attention to the role that geographical location and demographics play.
Municipal agents have to complete exams and advanced training according to their purview. This includes prevention, which Hatto welcomes as a “step in the right direction” while also noting that it took a long time for the law to be passed.
Agents can issue sanctions for violations of the road traffic act, for noise complaints, or to people who fail to pick up after their dogs. In case they have completed further training, agents can also implement some police regulations, though the maximum amount that they can fine is limited to €250.
According to Hatto, violations can only be sanctioned once, either by a municipal agent or by a police officer. However, if a person fails to cooperate with an agent and they decide to call the police for support, an additional fine might be issued as this is seen as a separate violation.
Though the use of bodycams is becoming more concrete in the police force, there is currently no demand for municipal agents to follow suit. “It is clearly evident that every situation with a risk of escalating, such as drug or violence-related incidents, remains in the hands of the police”, argues Hatto.
Looking ahead to summer, Hatto believes that municipal agents might be of help in getting the situation around the Upper Sûre Lake under control as the elevated number of visitors led to problems in the past two years.
At the moment, out of the five municipalities located around the lake, Wiltz is the only one to employ an agent. The Nature Park has two rangers monitoring the situation, but in contrast to agents, they do not have the authority to issue a fine.
