Is it time for a reform of Brussels policing?

The 22 March bombings have left this country in shock. The inability to fathom that such an atrocity could happen to us is comparable only to the Dutroux era.

By the time serial killer Marc Dutroux was caught in 1996, girls had been disappearing for months. Not much attention was given to it, until two teenagers were found alive in one of Dutroux’s houses. In the days that followed, the bodies of four more girls were found on his premises.

The then prime minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene (CD&V), considered these his darkest days in politics. He later admitted that he and his government had been so involved in getting Belgium into the euro zone that they never noticed the failing police and justice system. After the events, a parliamentary committee looked into these failings, leading to a reform of the federal police (but not the justice system).

Will Belgium have a similar catharsis now? Another parliamentary committee was set up last week, to investigate how the terrorist networks responsible for the Paris and Brussels bombings went undetected. The outcome, many hope, will be similar to the reforms facilitated by the Dutroux committee in the late 1990s.

That explains some of the political nervousness since the bombings. Whereas prime minister Charles Michel (MR) has been widely praised for his serene and guarded initial response after the events, the political debate has heated up since.

N-VA’s Bart De Wever has pointed the finger at Philippe Moureaux (PS), the previous mayor of Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, whom he holds responsible for much of what went wrong in this Brussels municipality. Brussels-City mayor Yvan Mayeur (PS) (pictured), meanwhile, has accused both federal interior minister Jan Jambon (N-VA) and Vilvoorde mayor Hans Bonte (SP.A) of failing to stop 400 football hooligans from rioting at the memorial site at the Brussels Beurs.

What all of this will lead to remains to be seen, but one thing that is definitely on the table is the unification of the six Brussels police zones. Flemish parties have long been demanding this for reasons of efficiency, but Brussels politicians like Moureaux and Mayeur have always refused.

In any city the size of Brussels, some decentralisation is needed, they argued. A unified police, however, would also result in a loss of power for these Brussels politicians. Plenty to be nervous about.