238 residential burglaries in Mouscron in 2019. 238 in 2025. Zero per cent change over six years, while most Belgian municipalities recorded a marked fall. Mouscron has not got worse; it has simply not followed. For a household in Mouscron, the consequence is budgetary: it is not reasonable to count on the risk improving on its own.
A flat curve where the country is falling
| Year | Residential burglaries |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 238 |
| 2020 | 287 |
| 2021 | 261 |
| 2022 | 236 |
| 2023 | 287 |
| 2024 | 289 |
| 2025 | 238 |
Six years, seven data points, no direction: the series fluctuates between 236 and 289 without leaving that range. It does not even show the 2020 dip seen in many Belgian municipalities: in Mouscron, 2020 was on the contrary one of the high years, with 287 incidents.
The fall in 2025 is real — 17.6% fewer than in 2024 — but it follows two high years (287 then 289) and brings the figure back exactly to its 2019 starting point. The Mouscron series has already produced this movement: 261 in 2021, then 236 in 2022, before rising again to 287. Here, a one-year fall predicts nothing. That is the main lesson to draw from this table, and it is worth more than a triumphant commentary.
The long-term decline, for its part, is undeniable but old: the municipality recorded 412 residential burglaries in 2000 and 455 in 2015, its peak year. The decline therefore happened before 2019, and stopped there. Since then, the rate has been stable, at around 4.6 incidents per week.
What this stagnation says — and what it does not
Police statistics count recorded incidents; they do not explain their causes. Attributing this flatness to Mouscron’s position on the border would be a convenient hypothesis, but the source does not allow it to be established, and we will not present it as a fact.
What the figures do allow, on the other hand, is a finding of a different kind: Mouscron is a municipality where burglary targets homes almost exclusively. Of the 267 burglaries in buildings recorded in 2025, 89% involved a home. Burglary in Mouscron is not a commercial or industrial phenomenon: it is a domestic one.
The practical consequence: the risk is played out at your own front door, at the times when the home is empty. And since the series is not falling, investing in security is not justified by a deterioration — it is justified by consistency.
The real cost of an installation, item by item
A security budget is built on the number of exposed access points, not on the living area. Here are the items, in order of weight.
- The control panel. It sets the ceiling of the installation: number of connectable devices, range and, above all, whether or not a subscription is compulsory. See the control panels, and our article on alarms without a subscription, which is the real long-term item.
- Detectors, in numbers. This is the variable line. A home with a front door, kitchen door, rear patio window and garage door needs four opening detection points, not one. See the detectors.
- Outdoor detection, if the plot justifies it. Detecting in the garden rather than in the living room changes the moment of the alert, and therefore its usefulness. See the outdoor detectors.
- The siren and arming. Single items, relatively inexpensive, decisive for interrupting a break-in.
- Video, as a well-considered option. A 4 MP camera is more than enough to identify movement and a silhouette on a driveway or in a small garden; higher resolution is justified over long distances. Add to this a PoE recorder, which powers the cameras through the network cable and removes one power line per point.
The order of magnitude for a coherent detection set-up for a house in Mouscron lies between a few hundred and around two thousand euros of equipment, depending on the number of access points to be covered. An alarm kit is the entry point; our guide on which Ajax alarm to choose in Belgium helps you size the system without overpaying.
Three expenses to avoid
Multiplying cameras before installing detection. A camera documents, it does not interrupt: four cameras and no opening contact means a budget devoted to filming a burglary rather than stopping it.
Paying a subscription to access your own images or to arm your system. Over five years, this recurring line frequently exceeds the price of the equipment.
Equipping the front façade. It is visible from the street, and that is what protects it. The useful money goes to the back.
Housing in Mouscron: terraced houses, small gardens, garages and outbuildings
The local fabric mixes terraced houses, detached houses with small gardens, attached garages and outbuildings at the back of plots. Three points of entry come up systematically.
The back door or living-room patio window: glazed, invisible from the road, often accessible via an alleyway or the neighbouring plot. The garage: its door rarely matches the security level of a front door, and the connecting door to the house is frequently a lightweight interior door, forced out of sight. The outbuilding or garden shed finally, which is not just a target but a supplier of tools: a ladder and a crowbar left there equip the intruder for the main building.
Detection must therefore cover these three areas first. A properly equipped home in Mouscron detects at the rear and on the outbuildings; a poorly equipped home detects in the living room, once the intruder is inside.
Free advice from the police zone, and the question of grants
The Mouscron police zone (5317) makes a theft prevention adviser available to residents. The visit is free of charge, the adviser has nothing to sell, and their report covers the actual access points of the home. It is the most cost-effective expense in a security project: it costs nothing, and it avoids equipping the wrong side of the building.
On financial support, let us stick to the facts. Some Belgian municipalities award a home security grant. These grants fund mechanical protection — security cylinders and locks, locking points, burglar-resistant glazing, reinforcement of doors and frames — and almost always exclude alarm systems and cameras. We have no official source establishing the existence of such regulations in Mouscron, and we will not invent any: the question should be put directly to the municipal administration. Until you have an answer, cost your detection system as an expense entirely at your own charge.
The federal legal framework then applies without any local particularity: registration of the alarm via police-on-web within ten days, annual confirmation, siren limited to three minutes, annual maintenance, verification before police intervention — see our guide to registering an alarm system in Belgium. For cameras: registration on declarationcamera.be, pictogram, register of processing activities, and a ban on filming the public road or the neighbour’s property — a real constraint in a street of terraced houses.
Frequently asked questions
How many burglaries were recorded in Mouscron in 2025?
238 residential burglaries, according to the federal police statistics. That is 17.6% fewer than in 2024 (289 incidents), but exactly the 2019 level, also 238 incidents, or 4.6 incidents per week.
Why are burglaries not falling in Mouscron?
Police statistics count recorded incidents without giving their causes: no explanation can be put forward with certainty. What can be observed is that the series has fluctuated between 236 and 289 since 2019 with no trend, including in 2020. Mouscron’s decline, for its part, came earlier: the municipality recorded 455 incidents in 2015.
How much does an alarm for a house in Mouscron cost?
The budget depends on the number of exposed access points — back door, patio window, garage, outbuilding — more than on the size of the home. The order of magnitude for a coherent set-up ranges from a few hundred to around two thousand euros of equipment depending on the number of access points to be covered, excluding annual maintenance, which is a recurring legal obligation.
Can a municipal grant reimburse my alarm in Mouscron?
Belgian municipal home-security grants cover mechanical protection — locks, cylinders, burglar-resistant glazing, frames — and almost always exclude alarms and cameras. We have no official source on the existence of such regulations in Mouscron: check with the municipal administration before incurring any costs.
Where can I get free theft prevention advice in Mouscron?
From the theft prevention adviser of the Mouscron police zone (5317). The visit is free of charge and has no commercial purpose: the adviser examines the actual access points of the home and indicates which ones to reinforce first.
Sources: Police crime statistics, Federal Police DGR/DRI/BIPOL, publication 2025_T04 (cut-off date 24/04/2026) — Mouscron municipal fact sheet. Police zone: Mouscron police zone (5317). The orders of magnitude quoted relate to equipment and vary according to the number of access points to be covered.