The city last year had decided not to renew its contracts with a private security firm to deliver services around the Gare area. Pressure had mounted against the firm after a person was by a guard dog handled by an agent.
“We would like nothing more than more police being on site,” Polfer said in an interview with RTL radio on Tuesday. “But we know that they have a lack of staff. They are being trained but this will take a few years and we cannot wait this long.”
With more police on the ground around the central train station, the drugs problem has moved to other areas of the city, such as the square at the Royal Hamilius and the pirate boat playground on Avenue Monterey, which is currently undergoing refurbishment but is set to reopen in June.
“We cannot tolerate drug offences happening in the place around this, finding syringes. There will be children and we will advertise for a team to be present,” Polfer said, adding that the private security agents would work at specific “hot spots” in the upper part of town. For the time being, they will not resume activities at the Gare.
The ‘A vos cotés’ social workers, who have been providing support for homeless people and drug users in the Gare and Bonnevoie districts will also be dispatched to the city centre in future, the mayor said.
Private security agents in Luxembourg aren’t allowed to patrol public spaces but can be used to help supervise specific locations, such as a building. Justice minister Sam Tanson (déi Gréng) on Friday is set to present a draft law to clarify the framework within which private security agents can operate and its limits.
In the incident last September, a guard dog had attacked a person during an altercation at Avenue de la Gare, raising questions whether the security guards had been patrolling the streets. An investigation is ongoing and the company in Luxembourg.
Already before the attack, the justice minister had warned the company of .
More powers for commune agents
A date for the return of private security agents to Luxembourg City isn’t set, Polfer said. Private agents have continued operating at the train station’s building. Rail operator CFL since the 1990s has been working with a private security company. The firm Protection Unit since the start of 2021 has held that contract.
In an effort to strengthen public order, commune agents are set to receive more powers, such as issuing a so-called “Platzverweis”, meaning they are able to tell people to leave and move them along for loitering.
A human rights committee had criticised the draft law, saying it infringed upon the rights of the homeless and would further stigmatise and marginalise them.
Polfer on Tuesday said the draft law aimed at allowing public agents who are not police to remove people who are sleeping in the doorways of businesses and homes, where she said families have to climb over people and drugs equipment. “I hope everyone understands that this is a no-go,” the mayor said, adding that social workers would be involved to help find the individuals another place to stay.