It is unclear whether police brutality increased in the country but as police officers are more visible than ever, for Marlène Negrini one thing is clear: “The police uniform is no longer respected.”
Since 2018, 123 cases of police brutality have been reported to the General Inspectorate of the Police. The equivalent of 25 cases per year.
Marlène Negrini was unable to provide new insight to the case of four police officers who were arrested and detained, amongst other charges for assault and battery. But stated, “the investigation is still underway and during the summer holidays, the justice system operates in slow motion”. The examining magistrate in charge of the case is also on holiday.
The new president does not want to say that police violence is born out of frustration or anger, but it is a fact that today a police uniform no longer has any value. In general, Marlène Negrini regrets that respect for police officers has disappeared. Police officers have things thrown at them and get spat on. For example, during demonstrations eggs, tomatoes and pieces of wood were thrown at them. In 1988 when she became a police officer, things were different, people were still “obedient towards police officers”.
Back then if you told someone who had too much to drink to go home, he would leave the pub. Now these same people are spitting on and running towards officers, or are throwing themselves on the ground to resist arrest. So sometimes you need to use the hard way. “Then when these very people claim they were hurt by an officer, it’s their word against ours and an investigation needs to be conducted.”
In these cases bodycams could be of use. The bill to implement these was voted before the summer holidays. “The original bill would have been perfect”, Marlène Negrini stated. With the changes made following the recommendations - in particular those of the Consultative Commission on Human Rights and the National Commission for Data Protection - “the handling of cameras has become more complicated”, a distinction between private and public spaces will have to be made.
“It is very possible that crime has gone up, as many foreign nationals are roaming around the Luxembourg-city train station and are drug trafficking.” But also because the general population has gone up. Furthermore “everything is made public these days, as everyone has a smartphone and everything is recorded.”
