Marie Lecocq was Martin Buxant’s guest on RTL TVI. The co-president of Ecolo notably addressed the topic of security.
Resources for community policing
Marie Lecocq began by recalling that security is a fundamental right for citizens. For environmentalists, one of the main levers for ensuring it is to strengthen community policing. These are the actors on the ground themselves who say so:
“Yesterday afternoon, I was with the Midi police zone, one of the most important zones in Brussels, and we discussed this need at length. Today, our police zones are partly underfunded and we find ourselves with police officers who are powerless in relation to what is happening in the neighbourhoods. We need to support them so that they can do field work: not just drive around, but go out to talk to residents and get to know them better,” explained Marie Lecocq.
Marie Lecocq, however, pointed out that while the police play an important role in combating the feeling of insecurity, other means must also be deployed. This is particularly the case for drug prevention and support policies, which help reduce street trafficking.
Let’s stop moving begging
On the issue of begging, the co-president of Ecolo fundamentally opposed its ban in cities:
“That’s what the mayor of Namur did and it’s scandalous. Poor people remain poor, it doesn’t help them. They simply move outside the city centers, which does not resolve the feeling of insecurity of some and others”.
Conversely, Ecolo advocates for care and support for people in situations of begging.
With the ecologists, we want municipalities to grow, where everyone feels good, with a police force close to the citizens and attentive to their needs!
