Police Lost Control in Brussels

I posted yesterday about the recent culturally-enriched riots in Brussels being held in honor of Ramadan. Below is a Belgian news report about the out-of-control situation among the “youths” in the suburbs.

Many thanks to our Flemish correspondent VH for the translation from French and Dutch, and to Vlad the Subtitler.


For translated news articles and other collated information about these incidents, see “Ramadan Riots in Brussels”.

For those who want to read it, the full transcript is below the fold.
- - - - - - - - -

0:02		The situation is not good. It’s going bad.
0:09		The violence is increasing.
0:12		The youngsters are no longer impressed by the police.
0:15		Especially because there simply is no penalty associated with it.
0:18		What I notice is that on the one hand the police do not have any power …
0:22		… to enforce the law in certain neighborhoods.
0:25		And on the other hand, young are stuck with youngsters who fear nothing …
0:28		… because they think they risk nothing.
0:30		— It is not going well with security in some neighborhoods of Brussels.
0:34		In recent weeks the police were repeatedly lured in a trap.
0:37		There is a sense of impunity.
0:40		How is it possible they have the impression that they have nothing to fear?
0:45		It is not an impression. They really do have nothing to fear!
0:48		There is no room in the prisons.
0:50		Some have up to thirty arrests on their record …
0:54		… Sometimes very serious crimes.
0:57		They will simply be released again after questioning.
1:00		They often are out on the street again more quickly than we are.
1:02		With large interventions, we have to make a statement ourselves …
1:06		… Then we must explain our interventions.
1:08		Three times out of four, they will be sooner outside than us.
1:11		It is a certainty.
1:13		— It is no news that police and courts have difficulty coming to grips with juvenile offenders.
1:19		It’s amazing that we are asked to intervene as little as possible.
1:24		The court. The instructions come from there.
1:27		Our superiors just pass the orders. That’s it.
1:31		It comes from above.
1:33		What kind of orders?
1:36		Like, in this Ramadan period:
1:40		Avoid checks, do not get on their nerves …
1:43		… do not disperse any scuffles.
1:48		This is an instruction that we now receive for Ramadan.
1:56		It is clear that it often happens in certain districts of Brussels …
2:04		… that the police are being asked to act with kid gloves …
2:06		… or even to wait to intervene.
2:08		There are many reasons for this caution.
2:11		Some are obvious, others are less so.
2:14		It is our job to act.
2:16		When the higher-ups prohibit us from acting …
2:20		… then I can not tell you why that is.
2:26		— ask the anonymous officers whether there also is a political explanation for the reluctance to intervene.
2:31		In some municipalities the police are feeling …
2:35		… totally abandoned by their mayor.
2:38		They have the impression that the mayor is not impartial.
2:41		That he has chosen the side of his citizens …
2:45		… and that the police must fend for themselves.
2:50		Why would he display such an attitude?
2:55		I think because they are a large part of his constituents.
2:59		— Meanwhile, the situation in some areas is getting harder and harder to control.
3:03		— In parts of Brussels the lawlessness is a fact.
3:06		Are there lawless areas in Brussels?
3:14		Yeah, I guess you can call them that.
3:16		It has not yet become widespread.
3:16		It is about some streets in some municipalities …
3:21		… but if we do not act quickly it will get out of hand.
3:25		And then many more lawless areas will develop there.
3:27		All those people realize that very well. This will only expand.
3:32		Now it is still about streets and small neighborhoods.
3:36		But that will only increase. So the answer is yes.
3:42		— Morale in the Brussels police has fallen to well below freezing.
3:48		The biggest frustration is that our work leads to nothing.
3:55		Apart from that, when colleagues are drawn into that …
3:58		… then that is too bad for them.
4:01		The main annoyance is that what we do does not yield much.
4:06		That is the largest frustration.
4:12		Do you still feel at ease in Brussels?
4:14		No, not at all. Not at all.
4:17		If you’re alone and encounter two of them, it is still manageable.
4:21		If there are three of them, then you have a problem.
4:23		If you’re a with beautiful woman you will be guaranteed have problems.
4:29		If you have a nice cellphone, you have a problem.
4:32		If you have an expensive car: problems.
4:34		If you’re dressed well: problems.
4:36		If you have nothing of the sort, but a little too much money in your pocket …
4:40		… then you have a problem, for sure.

Hat tip: Steen.