This was the consensus of all parties during an orientation debate in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. Opinions diverged on the exact approach to take. While déi Gréng tried to put the situation in perspective and focus on prevention, the CSV was clear in their demands for increased repression. While expressing their support for social measures or projects like "Housing first", they insisted that police should be given more means, such as the right to ban people, bodycams or equipment to detect swallowed drugs.
The horse has bolted thanks to the government's liberal drug policies, says the opposition party. CSV MP Leon Gloden very decisively spoke out against the legalisation of cannabis. DP MP Carole Hartman defended the government's project, however, arguing that cannabis was largely socially accepted and legalisation could hamper the illegal drug trade.
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She did express her support for more efficient justice and immigration policies. Coordination on the European level needed to improve and the legal framework for deportation in the country must be completed. The term "éloignement" (distancing or, in the legal sense, deportation) was not defined clearly enough, according to her. Some offences also needed faster judicial procedures, such as when the defendant accepts the sentence and the courts merely need to enact the agreement.
Henri Kox, minister for police for déi Gréng, stressed that crime had already reached a high point in 2014-15 and was now back at this level, despite population growth in the intervening years. He pointed to the current police recruitment drive and the white paper that a work group is expected to write. Leon Gloden countered that these measures were taking far too long and asked the minister to act before the autumn, for instance by introducing a law for banning people locally.
At the end of the debate, Henri Kox stated that he would prepare the measures demanded by the CSV.
