Brussels Police Union Warns of Rising Tensions Amid Calls for Violence

Images of police in Anderlecht arresting a suspected thief and being insulted by people unrelated to the arrest were widely reported last week. This incident brings back the debate around the police, who feel targeted by part of the population and are not supported by their authorities, reports lacapitale.be.

For the national secretary of the SNPS police union, Thierry Belin, the police were invited by merchants who wanted to deal with the criminals. Unexpectedly, the suspect called for a riot, forcing several people to intervene without knowing what was happening.

According to the Brussels police union leader, these images have once again revealed that the image conveyed by the police does not pass in part of public opinion. In his view, nothing should justify the frequent calls for violence against the police, launched on social networks. This thorny problem is noticeable in the Brussels region and particularly in Molenbeek or Brussels.

However, the police union leader acknowledges that there may be abuses in the police: "There was a police intervention recently in the Marolles. There, it’s clear, the police exaggerated and they will pay dearly for it," he recalls as an example. "But nothing justifies the increasingly numerous calls for violence against the police on social networks mainly, or during interventions," he laments.

This call for violence would have motivated the riots in Anderlecht, argues the trade unionist. "We don’t skimp on unhealthy advice. Worse, this anarchic site even goes so far as to talk about murder against the police when it mixes the stories of the car chases of little Mawda, two years old, and that of the young Adil. But when we talk about murder, we talk about premeditation," he laments.

To remedy this problem, Thierry Belin proposes "the creation of a special unit that will cover all the Brussels areas and intervene in case of a problem."