Since March last year, the railway police have carried out 220 visibility actions on trains from Brussels. This resulted in fifteen arrests. “On the train you are confronted with problems in the office and you have to respond.”
The visibility actions fit into the strategy that the Federal Railway Police has been applying since 2022. Visibility is crucial. By being visible on the trains, the police mainly want to prevent crime. Since March 2022, the railway police have already carried out 220 patrols on trains departing from Brussels.
“This is not about legal actions, but visibility actions,” emphasizes director of operations at the federal railway police Marc Vervaenen. Sixty percent of the actions took place between 7 p.m. and midnight. “Those are the most critical hours.”
Hot spots
Before starting these actions, the railway police analyzed its own crime data. Various hotspots were mapped out. “This actually concerns all stations in the periphery around Brussels,” says Vervaenen. “Think of stations like Denderleeuw, Aalst and Leuven, but also Ottignies.”
Of the 220 visibility actions, 50 took place at so-called hotspots. This resulted in more than 300 identity checks and 23 reports. For example, drugs, money and weapons were seized during the checks. Fifteen people were arrested. This concerns both administrative and judicial arrests. Vervaenen: “On the train you are confronted with all kinds of problems in the office and you have to respond.”
Olympics
In the coming year, the railway police wants to continue to focus on a visible presence in stations and trains. For example, there should be more joint visibility actions in collaboration with Securail. “In twenty months we have had 220 days of action. We are on the train one in three days, which is phenomenal,” says Vervaenen. “Our intentions for 2024 are to continue to focus heavily on visibility.”
Next year the railway police will be particularly attentive to the European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympic Games in Paris. Over the past year and a half, the railway police carried out 40 visibility actions on international trains. The importance of this will only increase in the coming year. “We are in contact with the BOIC (Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee, ed.),” Vervaenen added. “We expect 2,000 departing travelers from Brussels to Paris every day during the Games,” Vervaenen added.
Verlinden: ‘Not just an assignment from the police’
Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) is satisfied with the approach of the railway police, but emphasizes that the law enforcement services cannot solve all problems. “I can conclude that these actions yield something. We deploy the police where they are needed most. We ensure that public transport is safer and more pleasant. That is not just a task for the police, but we have partners for that who care for drug addicts, the homeless and people without papers,” says Verlinden.
In the meantime, the Brussels metro lines are also groaning from an increase in drug nuisance. There should also be more police there, the minister believes. “Of course, this is also important in the metro stations,” says the minister, “that is why there is cooperation with the local police, whose task is that in the first place.”
This article is originally published on .bruzz.be
