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More police officers injured by sport than active duty

11:09 10/08/2015

Belgian police officers are at greater risk from sports and training injuries than accidents suffered while performing their duties, according to figures picked up across the Belgian press this morning.

Out of 1,523 accidents recorded by the police over the course of a year, 347 took place during sporting activities or training for activities such as self-defence or controlling violent incidents. Only 275 accidents took place while officers were on active duty in the field.

Talking to Het Nieuwsblad, Vincent Houssin of the VSOA trade union expressed no surprise at the figures. "The police force makes no effort to allow its people to practice more sport, so that they can be fitter when they are on duty," he said.

He added that the union had told the Interior Ministry better sports facilities were required, but nothing had been done.

A total of 30,810 sick days were registered by the federal police in the course of the year, the paper reports, representing a cost of €7.2 million.

Written by Ian Mundell