Roller Parade becomes a craze across Belgium

Last summer Brussels took the lead: every Friday in good weather, roller skating enthusiasts gathered for a 20 km route through the city. Turnout exceeded all expectations and on peak days around 6,000 participants 'rolled' through the streets of the capital. This year Ghent, Hasselt, Liège, Mons and Namur are following suit, organizing a weekly parade during the summer months. In each city, a special police unit is also being trained for escort duty, on roller skates of course. The Brussels Roller Parade originated last year following an election promise by initiator Carl de Moncharline. De Moncharline ran for the PS in the 2000 municipal elections and promised to organize a parade following Paris' example if elected. Although he was not elected, the young man still managed to get the Brussels city council enthusiastic about the idea: De Moncharline even convinced mayor Freddy Thielemans (PS) and police chief Van Reusel to go to Paris to see how the city council and police managed the event there. The result of the Brussels initiative was a resounding success: around 30,000 roller skating enthusiasts took part in the parades and hardly any incidents were reported. Following a request from Mons mayor and PS chairman Elio Di Rupo, the idea arose to organize the parade in a whole series of cities. Brussels Rollers became Belgium Rollers and the days were scheduled so that diehard skaters wouldn't have to miss a single event. Hasselt 'rolls' on Monday, Namur on Tuesday, Ghent on Wednesday, Liège on Thursday, Brussels stays on Friday and Mons gets Saturday. Even Koksijde is joining twice this year: on 20 July and 24 August you can recover on rollerblades from idling on the beach. "Antwerp has not yet made a final decision," says De Moncharline. "Due to the works in the city center, the situation there is a bit more complicated. But there is still room on Sunday..." With Janssens as mayor, the chances should increase. All other cities, except Koksijde, have a mayor of socialist signature. Bruges, on the other hand, will likely see the event pass it by: roller skaters avoid cobblestones like the plague. In each of the cities, roller skate specialists are now training a group of officers Ghent, Hasselt, Liège, Koksijde, Mons and Namur follow Brussels' example on wheels. Yesterday, the new Brussels batch was presented to the press. Due to the parade's great success, the capital had to expand its number of 'rollercops' to fifty personnel. The officers are not full-time roller skaters, but combine the task with another basic function. During training, officers learn basic rollerblading techniques, but closing off intersections is also practiced. "We didn't learn special arrest techniques," says a female officer. It didn't stop her from catching a bike thief on roller skates during Car-Free Sunday last year. Bike thieves will probably have to get used to rollercops as well. The city of Brussels wants to gradually deploy the officers outside the parade context too, for fun and calm demonstrations, or to patrol the traffic-free Bois de la Cambre (Ter Kamerenbos), for example. For Brussels Mayor Thielemans, the rollercops are not just a media-friendly stunt, but also an excellent example of community policing, which is being talked about so much. Elio Di Rupo goes a step further, emphasizing that such actions can restore trust between the police and many young people. Initiator De Moncharline agrees: "One of the reasons for the parade idea was precisely the policy of the former Brussels city council, which systematically fined skaters on the stairs of the Kunstberg. This is a wonderful example of positive cooperation. At the same time, such a parade is a unique opportunity to view the city differently." Info: www.brusselsrollers.com