When Luxembourg’s home affairs minister  (CSV) launched six months ago, many questions arose: would it be a police force at the service of the mayors? Would it be integrated into the grand ducal police force? Where would the officers come from and who would they answer to? These six months of experimentation have enabled us to answer these questions and clearly define everyone’s responsibilities, which is essential before going any further.

The local police unit is made up of grand ducal police officers assigned to a local law enforcement mission. These officers are under the direct authority of the police station to which they are attached. Relations between mayors and police officers are based on consultation rather than subordination. Together, the police and local authorities decide where and how often officers should be deployed. Experience has shown that these meetings take place on a weekly basis. This is “the optimum frequency,” according to the director general of the police, Pascal Peters, who requires a standardised report of these meetings. Placing police units under the direct control of mayors would also have raised problems of authority between the latter and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has sole jurisdiction to order investigations.

As for the operational organisation of these missions, the “variable rotation pool” model has been adopted. All members of the grand ducal police force are therefore called upon to carry out local missions.

1,650 patrols in six months

Having said this, Gloden returned to the origins of the project, which features prominently in the coalition agreement, “following the observation that since the 2018 reform, the police were no longer sufficiently present on the ground.”

“According to a report by the Inspectorate General of the Police (IGP), 80% of activity was linked to repression and 20% to prevention. As a result of this reform, the police could no longer be as present on the ground as they should be. We listened to the police, the management, the unions and the shopkeepers, and that’s why, as part of the 4 Ps--more personnel, more presence, more proximity, more prevention--we decided, with the two largest municipalities in our country, to launch this local police pilot project.”

Half a year later, the minister says he is fully satisfied. “It has made it possible to improve people’s safety and sense of security.” In six months, the local police unit will have carried out 1,650 patrols, two-thirds of them in Luxembourg City. “Patrols that would not have taken place had we not introduced this unit. These patrols have taken the pressure off other police officers, who have been able to focus on other police duties.” At the same time, the police also carried out 3,400 preventive checks and 2,600 specific traffic checks, said Peters. These 1,650 patrols, which are preventive in nature, only marginally resulted in referrals to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. This is because, except in cases of flagrante delicto, when the patrols observe facts that could give rise to police intervention, they call their colleagues. “Indirect formalism,” in the words of Peters.

Differdange wants its own local police force

For Luxembourg City mayor  (DP) and Esch-sur-Alzette mayor Christian Weis (CSV), feedback from the field on the impact of the local police is more than positive. “This increased presence in the public space has been well received, and the collaboration between the police and the municipality has been effective,” says Polfer. “This proximity, which is a very important part of prevention, has always been important to us. We’ve been asking for it for a long time. So I’m really very pleased that this path has been taken.” If Polfer has one criticism to make, it’s that there should be even more. In Luxembourg City, local police patrols have concentrated on the Gare and Bonnevoie districts. Polfer would like to see other areas covered in the future. In Esch-sur-Alzette, the city centre and Belval were the focus of attention. And the feedback has been good, especially from shopkeepers. Weis is satisfied and hopes that the project will continue.

The local police are also the envy of the mayors. “Many municipalities have expressed an interest,” says Gloden. Differdange, for instance, has submitted an official request to have a local police unit on its territory. To be eligible for such a presence, volunteer municipalities will have to meet three cumulative criteria, as Peters explains: high-traffic areas; the presence of a certain level of “visible” crime in specific, delimited locations; and frequent and major problems with local public order.

More staff to be recruited and filled

Bolstered by the positive impact on the feeling of security, Gloden is going to enshrine the local police and their missions in law. The ministry of home affairs is working on a bill amending the 2018 Act, which the minister hopes to present to MPs by the end of March. The major difficulty will be finding the manpower to cope with the increase in police missions in this context. “We are on the right track. This year we have been able to fill 90 net posts, including 54 for the judicial police. And the government has decided to continue recruiting up to 200 people over the next few years, compared with 160 in previous years.”

This article was originally published in .