The Vice Premier Ministre and Ministre de la Sécurité Intérieure, Etienne Schneider and the Secrétaire d’État à la Sécurité Intérieure, Francine Closener, held a press conference today to present the conclusions from the bulletin concerning the organisation and function of the Police Grand-Ducale in Luxembourg.
The decision to bring about change to the police organisation was initiated in October 2014 after the Ministère de la Sécurité Intérieure commissioned an external investigator to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of current operations.
During the period of November 2014 to May 2015, 531 police officers were interviewed, 959 responded to an online survey and 191 sent in personal recommendations.
At today's press conference, Schneider and Secrétaire d'Etat à la Securité Intérieure Francine Closener commented on findings from the appraisal, and announced plans to recruit 320 additional officers to the police force.
Speaking on the matter of qualifications, it was found that previous training for officers has been insufficient and not always adapted to operational needs. To amend this, along with cited difficulties in recruitment, Etienne Schneider pledged:
- The development of technical and behavioural skills,
- The creation of new careers to enhance opportunities within the police force
- The revision of basic training (2 years and Internship and a 6-month Internship)
- The implementation of the job description
Public service careers, including the Brigadier career which previously was equivalent to less than five years of Secondary school, will be recognised as well as for the higher-level education such as Bachelor and Master degrees.
Chief of Police, Philippe Schrantz, spoke on the subject of internal security on a national level and of plans to regain a command of authority as the spread of confidential intel on police officers through criminal activity has been reported as an issue. To effectively consolidate the management of Luxembourg, the police will reorganise the country from six to three regions: Diekirch (North), Luxembourg (Central-South), and Esch (South). It is expected that this restructuring will account for disparities between regions, such as range, population and type of crime as well as more efficiently circulate available personnel.
Regarding the internal and external image of the Police, there will be:
- The revision of the visual identity
- The updating of police equipment (telephone, weapon, uniform, car, IT, etc)
- The development of an internal communication strategy towards all police officers
Photos By: Philip Munn. (Top: L-R: Chief of Police Philippe Schrantz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Homeland Security Etienne Schneider. Bottom: Etienne Schneider)
