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Devroe, E., Ponsaers, P. (2018). “Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels”, Forensic Research & Criminology International Journal, 6(1): 00178.

Authors:

Abstract

In 2013, we reported on the reform process in Belgium in Fyfe, Terpstra and Tops Centralizing Forces. On March 22, 2016, Belgium was confronted with the most dramatic act of terrorism in its history. In this article, we sketch the consequences of these events on the police system and to what extent these events have transformed the community-oriented policing (COP) philosophy on which the police reform of 1998 was based.
Forensic Research & Criminology International Journal
Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels
Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com
iii. 
 

         
       
   
       
         
responsible for supra-local and complex forms of public disorder
         
          
         
   
           
        
       
        
          

 
         
    
 
    

occasion. We summarise some of the critiques being recognised

a.           
      

good policing’.
b. 
   
is to a large extent the most important partner of the police.


c. 

d. 
           

Table 1
Real Capacity Local Police Real Capacity Federal Police
 Civilians  Civilians
   
 
 


1Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), Faculty
of Governance and Global Affairs, University Leiden, The
Netherlands
2Department of Criminal Law, Criminology and Social Law,
Ghent University, Belgium
*Corresponding author: 



Received:| Published:
Review Article

Abstract
            
     
            
            
  

Introduction
       
   

i. 
ii. 
Figure 1:
Citation:

Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels 2/7
Copyright:
©2018 Devroe et al.
   
   
       



e Political Situation in Belgium

      
       
       
        


         

         


the social democrats remain in a dominant political position. In

regional level. The most complicated political situation can be
    

     
 
  
         
         
       
        


 

e Brussels Bombings
         
            
  
        
       
     
authorities.
The background
         
        
        
          
         
         

         
  
      
      
          

          
          
   

   


   

        
           
    
    
       
      
        

        
 


    




Figure 2:
Citation:

Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels 3/7
Copyright:
©2018 Devroe et al.
         
       
          
       
            
         
       
        
         
   


Two suicide attacks on brussels airport and the metro
    

         
         
  
          
   
       
          
         

  


       
   
         
in reconstructing and repairing buildings. The total economic
          
        
subjected to a barrage of international criticisms that focused
   
       
         
      
 
   

Government Responses
       
         
    
        
        
        
           
       
     


    
       
      
also been strengthened.
The response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks
      


 
number of these measures concern the enforcement of criminal
  

      
 
      

        
     
        
     
the federal prime minister.
 
        
     

.
        
        
      
.
        
       
     

these people and their activities5.
 
     
 
reactive level.
          
.
         









5


Citation:

Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels 4/7
Copyright:
©2018 Devroe et al.
missions8.
    

The response to the Bataclan attacks
          
       

 
   
      

 The reinforcement of police controls at the borders.
        
       
ministers.
        
      
9.
5.        
administrative detention       
terrorism related cases.
 

.
       






       

is the best place to reintegrate.
8
         


9          

  

          
           

        
        
         
      



        
         
 

8.         
        
       
place them under electronic surveillance.
9.        
        
.
 
  



   
.
 

 
 
        
       
      
perceived as vulnerable to radicalisation.
 The reinforcement of screening before access to ‘sensitive
jobs’.
        
plates.
 
   

   
         
        
absent.
 
         
       



   
created.
          
            

      
     
     



        
     

Citation:

Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels 5/7
Copyright:
©2018 Devroe et al.
The response by civil society
   

        

        

  
         
       
        


       
       
          
       
   
       
    
        
    
         


       



       
       
           
    
of administrative arrest. The gathering of more information is
  
        
         

e lack of Co-ordination of the Municipal Initiative
       
         
         
  

         
       
 
         



     

   
        
    

.
       
         
       
   

         


          
          
        
        


         
 
declared ‘uninhabitable’ because there is no alternative housing.
         
         
         
       
         
    

         
        
         
         
         
         

     






         
     

      
    


           
      

e Federal ‘Canal Plan’ and the Regional Security Plan
        
          
 
Extremism and Terrorism. The government translated the problem
        
Citation:

Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels 6/7
Copyright:
©2018 Devroe et al.
         
   
          

   


         

 
        
      

       
    
Vilvoorde are considered in the plan as the most urgent targets.
       

        
        
           
        
  
     

         
      

        

        

    
         
       
       
          



        

       
  

Conclusion
          



 
 
           
       
         
    
          
     
      

 
  


         

       
         
       
         
   
    
         
   


           
    

       
         
      
        
    
  

References
         
    
    
        

         ,  

   

 

        

         
        
   

5.          
        
   
         
            

           
    
       
Citation:

Terrorism and Governance Strategies in Brussels 7/7
Copyright:
©2018 Devroe et al.
 

  
 :
8.          
       

9.          

          

 

           
public prosecutor.
          

         

        

          
        

          
        

18. 

19. 
          

          

 

 
         

 

       
     

          
      
        

 

           
       
        
         
       

 
       
 
Europe.
     

 

       

 

    
    

          

         
         
        

         
           

neighbourhood after the clash: a research into neighbourhoods in
     

 

        
       

 
   


     
     

       

         
       
         

         

         
      

  
   
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After more than twenty years now of promotion of Community Oriented Policing by governments, foundations, and leading universities, it is still not clear what effect this has had on police practice. The results of evaluative research seem to be unimpressive and in some cases nonexistent or immeasurable. COP is stated to have little or no effect on police practice, while, e.g., aging and years of service do.
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Gedurende de avond van 13 november 2015 vindt een reeks van moorddadige aanslagen plaats in Parijs. Tijdens de aanslagen vallen 130 doden en 350 gewonden. Amper enkel maanden later, op 22 maart 2016, vinden in Brussel twee bomaanslagen plaats. Hier worden 35 dodelijk slachtoffers en 340 gewonden genoteerd. Tussen beide aanslagenreeksen zijn verschillende verbindende elementen. Eén hiervan is zonder enige twijfel de betrokkenheid van verdachten afkomstig uit de Brusselse gemeente Molenbeek. In dit artikel willen we ingaan op de centrale vraag waarom precies Molenbeek zo’n centrale plaats inneemt in het terreurdossier en op welke wijze hieraan kan geremedieerd worden? Een eerste deel beschrijft de gemeente Molenbeek als zodanig en de radicaliseringstendensen die zich gedurende de voorafgaande jaren voordeden in deze Brusselse gemeente. Er zal vastgesteld worden dat Molenbeek een “verwonde” gemeente werd gedurende het afgelopen decennium, die bij herhaling met het radicaliseringsprobleem werd geconfronteerd en in een neerwaartse spiraal terechtkwam. Nochtans zal opgemerkt worden dat niet zozeer het recherche- en gerechtelijk apparaat faalde in de strijd tegen het terrorisme. Bij herhaling werden immers grote groepen verdachten voor de rechter gebracht en veroordeeld. Het zal echter blijken dat dit niet heeft kunnen verhinderen dat een aantal onder hen verder radicaliseerde en betrokken raakten bij terreurdaden. De stelling die hier wordt verdedigd is dan ook dat niet zozeer het gerechtelijk kader faalde, maar dat alleen dit aspect onvoldoende was. Het is het bestuurlijk kader dat te gebrekkig werkte om radicalisering tegen te houden. In het tweede deel wordt een structurele diagnose gemaakt van de bestuurlijke context waarbinnen Molenbeek binnen het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest functioneert en hoe de politiële aanpak hier al dan niet op aansluit. Hier wordt vastgesteld dat vooral de afstemming tussen het preventief-bestuurlijk luik enerzijds en het repressief-gerechtelijk luik anderzijds structurele gebreken vertoont, die niet langer kunnen worden teruggebracht tot individuele tekorten, maar eerder toe te schrijven zijn aan de breuklijnen die het land verdelen en in grote mate een goede afstemming tussen beide soorten van aanpak in de weg staan. Het gaat om constructiefouten die dringend om remediëring vragen.
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The implication of Belgium-linked terrorists in the shootings and bombings on November 13, 2015 in Paris became more and more obvious during the police investigation that followed these events. Today we know that the bombings at Brussels Airport and the Maalbeek subway station on March 22, 2016 were committed by the same French-Belgian jihadi network. The consequence has been that many international observers focused on the Belgian police system, wondering why the Belgian police forces had not been able to prevent the radicalisation of these persons. In this paper we examine this question, explaining what happened during the period that preceded these assaults and decoding what the events mean for the Belgian police system today. In other words, this paper doesn’t go into the reaction to radicalisation and the subsequent violence itself, but into the preventive and pro-active actions that had been undertaken earlier to avoid the radicalisation of certain “at-risk” individuals and groups. The main argument we want to develop here is that a targeted prevention agenda was largely present in discourse, but to a great extent absent in practice. Further, we advocate that, if implemented, this kind of preventive approach would have been much more effective than the repressive criminal justice agenda now applied with respect to jihadi terrorism.
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This chapter discusses the most significant reform of the Belgian police system that occurred by law in 1998 3 . The actual implementation of the act dates from the beginning of 2001. The reform includes regrouping of the three regular police forces that existed previously. This involved the municipal police, the Gendarmerie, and the judicial police at the public prosecutor's office. These three police forces were rearranged into 'a single, integrated police force, structured on two levels'. In this chapter we will not limit ourselves to a purely formal discussion of this intervention. In the first paragraph we go back to the origin and significance of the three police forces that were grouped for the reform. The second paragraph goes into the reform and its background, and also how it worked out and how it continues to operate. We close in the third paragraph with an evaluation of the reform, which is discussed now, and also whether or not it is considered necessary to introduce new reform. Origin and significance of the Belgian system prior to the 1998 reform
Book
Jihad is the most organized force against Western capitalism since the Soviet era. Yet jihadism is multifaceted and complex, much broader than Al Qaeda alone. In the first wide-ranging introduction to today's rapidly growing jihadism, Khosrokhavar explains how two key movements variously influence jihadi activists. One, based in the Middle East, is more heavily influenced by Islamic religion and political thought. The other, composed of individuals growing up or living mostly in Europe and Western democracies including the United States, is motivated by secular as well as religious influences. Khosrokhavar interprets religious and lesser-known Arabic texts and the real-world economic and political dynamics that make jihadism a growing threat to Western democracies. Interviews with imprisoned jihadists on what motivated their plots and actions help the readers understand reality as seen by jihadists. The author concludes with recommendations to safeguard democracies from future jihadism.
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Shaw and McKay's influential theory of community social disorganization has never been directly tested. To address this, a community-level theory that builds on Shaw and McKay's original model is formulated and tested. The general hypothesis is that low economic status, ethnic heterogeneity, residential mobility, and family disruption lead to community social disorganization, which, in turn, increases crime and delinquency rates. A community's level of social organization is measure in terms of local friendship networks, control of street-corner teenage peer groups, and prevalence of organizational participation. The model is first tested by analyzing data for 238 localities in Great Britain constructed from a 1982 national survey of 10,905 residents. The model is then replicated on an independent national sample of 11,030 residents of 300 British localities in 1984. Results from both surveys support the theory and show that between-community variations in social disorganization transmit much of the effect of community structural characteristics on rates of both criminal victimization and criminal offending. Sociology
Pillars of community policing in Belgium
  • J M Van Branteghem
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Van Branteghem JM, Van de Sompel R, Ponsaers P, Boekaert T (2007) Pillars of community policing in Belgium. In: Bruggeman W, Van Branteghem JM (Eds.), Towards an Excellent Police Function, USA, p. 15-36.
Directive CP1 of the 25th of May 2003 concerning community policing; definition of the Belgian interpretation of the integrated police service, structured at two levels, B.S. 09-07-2003, Attachment to the circular letter
  • A Duquesne
  • M Verwilghen
Duquesne A, Verwilghen M, (2003) Directive CP1 of the 25th of May 2003 concerning community policing; definition of the Belgian interpretation of the integrated police service, structured at two levels, B.S. 09-07-2003, Attachment to the circular letter. In: Van de Sompel R & Ponsaers P (Eds.), De pijlers van de gemeenschapsgerichte politiezorg in België, USA, p. 66.
Social Analysis of Security: Financial, Economic and Ecological Crime, Crime(In)security and Distrust, Public and Private Policing
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Devroe E (2012) A swelling culture of control: The genesis and application of the incivilities law in Belgium. In: Ponsaers P (Ed.), Social Analysis of Security: Financial, Economic and Ecological Crime, Crime(In)security and Distrust, Public and Private Policing, Eleven international Publishing, USA, pp. 355-362.