Police patrolling becoming difficult in Muslim areas of Molenbeek, Brussels

BRUSSELS: Police officers belonging to the Brussels-West police district, which includes Molenbeek, have massively taken up sick leave.

Molenbeek, is one of 19 municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region, which also includes the City of Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

"Our batteries are empty", says Kris Verstraeten of the liberal trades union, who works himself as a policeman in Molenbeek.

Police can no longer deal with the heavy work pressure, a problem that has been there for quite some time. Now, employees have given a clear signal. Both the night shift and their colleagues for the day didn't go on patrol, calling in sick. They were replaced at the last minute by police officers from local districts.

"The problem has been going on for months: we are short of staff, and face a lack of means. The people are at their wit's end. (...) The patrol teams are short of 40 personnel. The batteries are empty", explains Verstraeten.

He adds that the strike was not initiated by the unions. "This shows how deep the problem has grown."