Community Spotlight: Flemish Newspaper Features Peace Officer Philippe

We are pleased to share a recent article from a Flemish local newspaper featuring one of our Belgian Peace Officers, Philippe De Coensel. The piece highlights his personal experience with an escalating parking fine and his wider views on justice, proportionality, and the challenges many citizens face when navigating enforcement systems.

The article also mentions Philippe’s volunteer involvement with Peace Officers and his commitment to supporting people who feel overwhelmed or mistreated by administrative and legal processes. While the views expressed in the interview are his own, we value the dedication he brings to helping others in his community.

Below you’ll find the full English translation of the original newspaper article.

“Such an amount is grossly exaggerated.”

A parking fine of just 20 euros from November 2023 has ballooned to 724 euros following a ruling by the magistrate. Philippe De Coensel, who now has to pay the fine, admits that he committed the parking offence. He says he intended to pay the original 20 euros, but mistakenly transferred the wrong amount. He also claims he never received the registered reminder that was supposedly sent to him.

“I think 724 euros is completely exaggerated,” he fumes. “Totally disproportionate. But there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Philippe, 51, lives in Torhout-Oost. He has four children—Anna, Maria, and Paris. He spent years working in the Dominican Republic and has lived in Belgium since 2008. He later became a taxi driver in Bruges, but has since stopped working.

‘PAYING IN INSTALLMENTS’

In November 2023, Philippe parked his car in a shop & go zone near a spinning school, where you are allowed to park only briefly. “I thought I had parked normally,” he explains. “I had my blue parking disc with me, but I had forgotten to put it behind the windshield.”

A parking attendant fined him 20 euros. “Normally I would have paid it right away, but I forgot. At that time, the Torhout parking company was managing enforcement. They claim they sent reminders, including a registered letter, but I never received anything.”

The parking company eventually took the matter to the magistrate.

“On 12 March this year—coincidentally my birthday—I had to appear before the magistrate. I had to pay 8 euros immediately. Apparently that’s the procedure. Recently I received the verdict: I now owe 724 euros. That’s a huge amount.”

He has already contacted CAW to arrange payment in smaller installments. “Appealing doesn’t make much sense, because it would cost me even more—and I simply can’t afford it.”

‘TAKING MONEY OUT OF PEOPLE’S POCKETS’

At the end of October, a bailiff delivered the order to pay. The bailiff’s fees—about 235 euros—are included in the total amount.

“I don’t agree with the parking policy in Torhout at all,” Philippe complains. “It’s about taking money out of people’s pockets. I call it theft. I believe in basic principles: you should not kill, coerce, steal, or lie. That also applies to the government. The truth is, many ordinary citizens cannot defend themselves against what is imposed on them. It’s disgraceful—an outright violation of human rights.”

Philippe is an active member of two international movements that fight against injustice and seek to prosecute government agencies when they cross the line: the International Organisation for Peoples’ Rights (IOV) and Peace Officers.

“If people feel wronged—for example, by parking policy—they can contact me. Together we are stronger. I’m not afraid to stick my neck out and say what I think. Injustice offends me.”

‘MADE SICK BY VACCINES’

Philippe also believes that human rights were blatantly violated during the coronavirus pandemic, a topic he cannot resist returning to.

“Many measures should never have been taken,” he argues. “The government imposed things on us that were wrong. I have not been vaccinated even once, because I am convinced the vaccines do not protect you—they make you seriously ill.”