288 arrests in 5 months in Aumale and Clemenceau, but residents remain in despair
Despite 82 police operations and 288 arrests since May, residents of the Aumale neighbourhood in Brussels are denouncing a situation that remains uninhabitable.
Aumale neighbourhood in Brussels: 288 arrests, but residents still at their wit's end
During a citizens' petition presented to the municipal council, dozens of residents from the Aumale neighbourhood expressed their exasperation at the ongoing deterioration of their living conditions, according to DHnet. Forestier Park, Place du Repos and Aumale metro station are concentrating complaints: crack and injected drug consumption, prostitution scenes in broad daylight, human excrement and abandoned mattresses.
"It was a little paradise. For six years, it has been hell," testified a resident who has lived in the neighbourhood for 18 years, interviewed by the Belga news agency. "We call the police. Again and again." Another resident, who works at Place Fontainas, describes around twenty drug users sometimes occupying the surroundings of the metro lift. He also noted that a surveillance camera, whose pole was sawn through by two youths on 16 June, has still not been replaced.
This resident also recalled having met the mayor two years earlier without the situation improving: "I heard the same things," he regretted.
Designated a regional hotspot, the area has been subject to gunfire on a police station
The neighbourhood was designated the 16th regional drug "hotspot" in October 2024. It has also been the scene of gunfire directed at the police station on Rue Démosthène, which borders Forestier Park. The signatories of the citizens' petition are calling for "urgent, coordinated and visible measures" in response to a "situation that has become untenable", denouncing open-air drug dealing, used syringes and public disorder. They are requesting coordination between police, health, prevention and social support services, together with a precise action timetable.
The results of Operation "Spotlight"
Mayor Fabrice Cumps presented the results of Operation "Spotlight", a reinforced police presence measure put in place from May onwards, with the arrival of fine weather and increased occupation of public space.
In Aumale, 31 "Police Action Groups" have been deployed since 18 May, representing 181 patrols and the presence of over 360 police officers on these intervention days. For the Clemenceau sector, the measure covered 51 action days, mobilising 642 police officers and 321 patrols. In total, the two zones account for 82 operations, averaging 6 police officers per day. Outside these special days, police maintain a presence as part of standard operational arrangements.
During these operations, 288 arrests were made since May. The mayor clarified that 50 per cent of those arrested during the final weeks of summer were not in order regarding their residence status.
The mayor demands effective expulsions for repeat offenders
Cumps took the opportunity to relay a request from the Public Prosecutor, Julien Moinil. "I am in favour of regularising in the broadest possible way undocumented persons who wish to integrate into our country, but I am also in favour of — a criminal being a criminal, regardless of their status — heavily sanctioning through the enforcement of orders to leave the territory those who seriously disrupt life in our neighbourhoods," he declared. He added that these individuals "also demoralise our police officers because they are arrested multiple times and do not face the consequences of their actions."
Partnership with the Immigration Office has been strengthened for the "accelerated processing of persons in illegal residence who are repeat offenders involved in public nuisances," the mayor assured. The "Spotlight" model, initially planned for the summer period, will be maintained after the return to school, according to the municipality.
A report that fails to convince residents
Despite these figures, the report presented by Fabrice Cumps did not convince the residents who came to petition the municipal council. For them, the operations have not been sufficient to halt a deterioration that has lasted for six years, and the promises heard at previous meetings have not been followed by visible effects on the ground.
Source: DHnet