Audax® is proud to be the headline sponsor of the Anti-Aggression Symposium organised by SPOED 112 taking place on the 4th February 2021 in Antwerp. The full day event, with a line-up of influential speakers is focused on raising awareness of the anti-aggression campaign; as well as championing solutions that counter violence against emergency services workers.

Audax® is the world leading pioneer of body worn video technology, a proven solution to mitigate the risk of aggression and violence within the emergency services sector. As the prime sponsor of the Ambulance Union, (Ambulanciersunie), Audax® is keen to play an active role alongside SPOED 112 to ‘aid those who help us’ in the UK, in Belgium and elsewhere. In addition to headline event sponsorship, Audax® will be carrying out a number of demonstrations of its BWV technology for attendees.

Police officers in the zone Brussels-Capital-Ixelles have been increasingly confronted with violence over the last four years, with figures showing an increase of some 400%1. Officers are then on paid sick leave while they recover and thus aren’t capable of being on the streets providing the security the area desperately needs. The aggression has got so bad that often drink or drug intoxication is not the ‘catalyst’, as many might expect it to be. For example, on 6th September 2020, firefighters were ambushed and attacked with Molotov Cocktails2, whilst on the 27th August a second team of firefighters were pelted with bottles3.

These statistics are deeply saddening and shocking, and yet it is thought that they hugely underestimate the full scale of the aggression on emergency services staff due to under-reporting. The ambulance and emergency services sector as a whole do an incredible job at keeping the public safe and they should not have to deal with unwarranted aggression from the public. That is why Audax® prides itself in supporting anti-aggression campaigns around the world.

Manging Director of Audax®, Adam Liardet comments, “The Symposium organised by SPOED 112 is a continuation of over three years of Audax® support of this cause in Belgium. No other company has been as active in Belgium as Audax® in trying to stamp out this ‘horrific plague’ of behaviour and we are keen to support an initiative that we are truly passionate about as protecting the emergency services sector against aggression and abuse is a priority for us.

“While we have proven time and again that our body worn cameras do mitigate some risk, without a fear of prosecution for an attack on an emergency worker, these attacks will still occur. As the global pioneer of this technology, having a product that provides indisputable evidence to support a prosecution is vital.”

The Symposium takes place in 4th February 2021 at the Auditorium Provinciehuis Antwerpen and tickets can be obtained from www.spoed112.com

• 1 https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/78755/violence-against-brussels-police-quadrupled-in-four-years/
• 2 https://www.brusselstimes.com/brussels-2/130068/brussels-firefighters-attacked-with-molotov-cocktails/
• 3 https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/128764/molenbeek-forbids-assembly-following-firefighter-incident/