In Asse, the number of residential burglaries has barely moved in six years: 161 incidents in 2019, 159 in 2025, or -1.2 %. In between, however, the curve swung widely, from 117 to 175. In a municipality of suburban streets where people know each other, this stability points to an avenue that equipment alone does not cover: what happens between the houses.
Six years of figures in Asse: a curve that returns to its starting point
The offences recorded by the federal police in Asse draw waves rather than a trend. 161 residential burglaries in 2019, a marked dip to 117 in 2020, 129 in 2021, a rise to 169 in 2022, 144 in 2023, a recent peak of 175 in 2024, then 159 in 2025. The fall in the last year (-9.1 %) is real, but it simply brings the municipality back to its level at the start of the period.
Two older reference points put these values in context. In 2015, Asse reached its peak with 274 incidents; in 2000, there were 171. The municipality is therefore now well below its peak, but without any structural improvement since 2019. On a weekly basis, this represents 3.1 residential burglaries.
The profile of the risk, however, is unambiguous: of the 186 burglaries in buildings recorded in Asse in 2025, 85 % target a home. It is not a problem of business parks or shops; it is a problem of houses.
Asse's building stock: the risk is at the back, not the front
Asse is a residential municipality in Flemish Brabant: single-family houses, housing estates, deep gardens, hedges, and large stretches of building along country roads. This structure produces a constant weak point.
The front façade is seen from the street, by passing cars, by the neighbour opposite. The back is seen by nobody, except the adjoining neighbours — and even then, a tall hedge removes that last line of sight. Living-room French window, bay window, conservatory, utility-room door, attached garage: all these access points are glazed or lightweight, all are invisible from the road, and once the garden is crossed, the intruder works undisturbed.
This also explains the limited value here of an alarm with all its sensors indoors: it records a presence already in the living room. The appropriate approach is outdoor detection around the edge of the garden, complemented by opening contacts on the rear access points. An outdoor siren plays a dual role here: it interrupts the break-in in progress, and above all it makes the event audible to the neighbourhood — which brings us to the heart of the matter.
The neighbourhood is the first sensor, and it is free
In a housing estate in Asse, the only permanent surveillance that exists is human. A technical system detects what happens in your home; an attentive neighbour detects what happens before: the van parked two days running in a cul-de-sac, someone ringing every doorbell mid-morning, the person walking round the side of a house.
This observation has been institutionalised in Belgium in the form of neighbourhood information networks — the buurtinformatienetwerken (BIN) in Flanders. The principle is simple: a group of residents, a coordinator, and an information channel managed with the local police, which circulates relevant alerts and passes on observations. It is neither a militia nor a patrol: it is an information circuit. To find out whether a network covers your neighbourhood, or how to set one up, the contact is the AMOW police zone (5408 — Asse, Merchtem, Opwijk, Wemmel).
In a street in Asse, three practices are worth as much as an extra piece of equipment: a neighbour who has a key and actually collects the post while you are away; someone who can move a car or put out a bin to break the regularity of an empty house; and a number neighbours can call when a detail seems odd, rather than the usual hesitation to 'bother the police for nothing'. The zone's burglary prevention adviser will confirm it: it is information circuits that are most often missing, not locks.
Alarm verification: where neighbours and technology meet
Belgian law requires alarm verification before any police intervention following an alarm. In other words, a wailing siren triggers nothing by itself: something must confirm that the intrusion is real.
This requirement has a very concrete meaning in Asse. Either you entrust this check to a neighbour, with the obvious drawbacks — they are not always there, and you do not send someone to confront an intruder. Or you have the system itself carry it out. That is the role of photo-verification detectors: the alert arrives with an image, which lets you know within seconds whether to call 101 or ignore a moving curtain. A Wi-Fi camera on a rear access point does the same job when the garden is deep.
One does not replace the other: the neighbour sees what arrives in the street, the system sees what happens in the house. An effective set-up combines the two — and assumes that the neighbours concerned know you are equipped, and whom to alert.
Free advice, grants and obligations: the real situation in Asse
The diefstalpreventieadviseur — burglary prevention adviser — of the AMOW zone visits your home free of charge and has nothing to sell. The request is made via the techno-prevention page of the police zone. For a house in Asse, the assessment focuses first on the rear access points and on the real quality of the cylinders, two areas where money is poorly spent when you decide alone.
As for financial support: some Belgian municipalities grant a premium for mechanical security — locks, cylinders, burglar-resistant glazing, frames. Regulations differ from one municipality to another and are revised from one year to the next; contact the Asse municipal administration before starting any works, and do not include any refund in your budget until it is confirmed. Remember that this type of grant targets mechanical protection, not electronic systems.
Finally, two federal obligations, valid in Asse as everywhere else. For an alarm: declaration within ten days via police-on-web, annual confirmation, outdoor siren limited to three minutes, annual maintenance and alarm verification before intervention — Royal Decree of 25 April 2007, detailed in our guide on the declaration of an alarm system. For a camera: declaration on declarationcamera.be, regulatory pictogram, register of processing activities, and a ban on filming the road or the neighbour's garden — a sensitive point between adjoining plots, covered in our article on the camera law in Belgium. If you are starting from scratch, our guide which Ajax alarm to choose in Belgium and the alarm kits offer the simplest starting point.
Frequently asked questions
How many burglaries were recorded in Asse in 2025?
159 residential burglaries were recorded in Asse in 2025, or 3.1 per week. That is 9.1 % fewer than in 2024 (175 incidents), but practically the 2019 level (161 incidents), or -1.2 % over six years.
What is a neighbourhood information network and how can you join one in Asse?
A neighbourhood information network (buurtinformatienetwerk, BIN) is a channel for exchanging information between residents and the local police, run by a volunteer coordinator. It involves neither patrols nor armed surveillance. To find out whether a network exists in your neighbourhood or to set one up, the contact is the AMOW police zone (5408).
Can a neighbour carry out the verification of my alarm?
In practice, a neighbour can report an anomaly, but will not always be available, and nobody should be asked to confront an intruder. A photo-verification detector or a camera on the access point concerned makes it possible to confirm the intrusion remotely, which Belgian law requires before any police intervention.
Is there a municipal security grant in Asse?
Security grants exist in some Belgian municipalities, but they cover mechanical protection — locks, cylinders, glazing, frames — and not alarms or cameras. Conditions vary and change: check with the Asse municipal administration before starting any works.
How can you get free burglary prevention advice in Asse?
By requesting the diefstalpreventieadviseur of the AMOW police zone, which covers Asse, Merchtem, Opwijk and Wemmel. The home visit is free and has no commercial interest, and results in prioritised recommendations, often focused on the rear access points.
Sources: Police crime statistics, Federal Police DGR/DRI/BIPOL, publication 2025_T04 (cut-off date 24/04/2026) — Asse municipal fact sheet. No municipal security grant regulation could be verified for Asse at the time of writing: check with the municipality before incurring any costs.