A small bomb has exploded at the Federal Police. The helicopter of the federal police picked up the Turnhout chief of police Roger Leys on Tuesday for a lap of honor towards his retirement party. “A present” he said himself. The unions and staff of the zone think this is “loose about it”. “The federal police are bankrupt. There is a huge shortage of staff and resources. Even CO2 meters in these corona times are too expensive. But it’s not possible for such a joke. We will not let this pass.”
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Dirk Coosemans and Britt PeetersSource: Own reporting
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Police chief Roger Leys was pleasantly surprised when he was picked up on Tuesday, just before the party for his retirement, by the helicopter of the federal police for a flight over his zone with Turnhout as the largest city. The chief of police was even allowed to navigate along for a while.
The expensive gift caused a lot of frowning from ordinary agents of the zone. And for angry reactions from the unions. “This is no longer possible,” sighs Joery Dehaes of the ACV. “There is money for nothing. CO2 meters? Too expensive. Staff? A big deficit. But apparently there is enough budget for such jokes. This is misuse of the most expensive resources available to the police. We will not take this, and will raise it with the Negotiating Committee.”
Vincent Houssin of the VSOA union reacts sarcastically: “Nice. We will ask the Negotiating Committee where we can apply for such a flight for the 1,000 regular staff who retire each year. Because this is quite a contrast to ordinary employees, who even have to pay for their seniority medal themselves”.
“Let’s be honest”
The federal police say it was a “planned preventive traffic action in which the chief of police participated as a local man on board”, and therefore “certainly not a gift”.
But that is strangely denied by the retired chief of police Roger Leys himself: “Let’s be honest: in practice that flight was of course planned for my farewell”.
The man reacts laconic to the criticism of the union. “Perhaps a disgruntled delegate who also wanted to fly”, says Leys.
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