Are the police officers too controlled?

Belgium

They complain mbadively but the Minister of the Interior only partially hears them.

There is some frying on the line between the Minister of the Interior Jan Jambon (N-VA), some police officers and trade unions.

An audit of the Leuven police, relayed on Friday by "Het Laatste Nieuws", has just revealed that the Leuven police are afraid to leave on a mission because they fear to be the object of complaints and sanctions for a yes or a no.

Controlled Agents and Rotting Apples

This feeling would be shared in other areas. "Our agents are overly controlled" said Nicholas Paelinck, corps commander of the De Panne-Koksijde-Nieuwpoort area and chairman of the Standing Committee of the local police. He pleaded for a single supervisory body.

Minister's Reply: "We train our police officers with the utmost care, so we must give them our maximum confidence, but when there are excesses, as can happen in any sector, then the rotten apples must be removed from the basket. " Jan Jambon also sees no point in merging the supervisory bodies, namely the P Committee and the General Inspectorate. [19659004] But the unions do not bother. According to Vincent Houssin, of the SLFP Police, instead of brandishing disciplinary sanctions, the hierarchy and the politicians should trust more police personnel. According to him, the excessive controls are not limited to Leuven. "The police are the most watched criminals in the country […] Body cameras, listening to telephone conversations at dispatching, all this was instituted supposedly for security reasons but in reality, people are constantly controlled and under the threat of disciplinary action.The result: the police apply the orders to the letter, without taking any more initiative " laments it

Nice promises

" The pressure on the police is far too high, but respect has disappeared. " adds Thierry Belin, National Secretary of the National Union of Police and Security Personnel (SNPS). According to him, the police officers "are no longer ridiculed, insulted and humiliated, but they are also placed under strict control by at least four control services."

"The insults, badault, death threats and murder of police officers often remain unresolved " he continues, regretting that the condemnation of such acts is often limited to " words or promises "

Vincent Houssin calls for a change of mentality on the part of the authorities whereas the SNPS calls the Minister of the Interior to "to undertake urgent actions […] .The police are one of the pillars of our democracy and not the defouloir on which everyone can spit his venom ".