Faced with the coronavirus, police and gendarmes organize

• More and more members of the police force, in direct contact with the population, are contaminated by the coronavirus.
• Police and gendarmerie are reorganizing their missions and asking the population to favor online services.
• Civil servants and soldiers are also mobilized to enforce the closure of shops and restaurants.

The case had been feared for several weeks. More and more police and gendarmes are tested positive for coronavirus. Last case to date, detected this Monday morning, according to our information: an agent assigned to a police station in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, responsible for taking the impression of people placed in police custody. "When I think of all the people who passed into his hands, it sucks," says a police source. Faced with this resurgence of staff contaminated by the virus, the police are adapting.

In the capital, seven police officers from the rail network brigade were contaminated, forcing their 400 colleagues since Saturday to be confined to home for 14 days. The security of the Parisian transport networks will be ensured, during this time, by other services of the direction of security of proximity of the Parisian agglomeration (Dspap) of the Prefecture of police. Further south, in Sanary-sur-Mer (Var), seven police officers were also tested positive for Covid-19. On Saturday evening, the director general of the national police and the Minister of the Interior announced the closure of the police station and the confinement of the staff. Their missions will be carried out by the police stations of Toulon and La Seyne-sur-Mer. In total, the national police estimate the number of confined officials at 600.

Public reception methods are evolving

"Our reception methods are changing" with the pandemic, said the national police on its Twitter account. It distributed a document calling on the population to dial 17 only in the event of an emergency and to prioritize online procedures as much as possible.

[#COVID ー 19] For the # security of all, our reception methods are evolving. Thank you for favoring our digital platforms for your declarations and in case of emergency continue to dial 17. pic.twitter.com/OY4HRK2Vnj

In the area of ​​judicial police, the Department of Criminal Affairs and Pardons of the Ministry of Justice gave prosecutors instructions in a 13-page note "to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus". In particular, it asks the magistrates to encourage the police and gendarmes to give priority "to flagrancy investigations presenting a high stake in terms of public order and requiring a rapid judicial response". Police and gendarmes are also invited to "limit arrests in the preliminary form to the proceedings". In addition, DACG asks the examining magistrates to "postpone arrests that are not of an emergency nature. "

For its part, the national gendarmerie has, according to our information, set up a plan of continuity of action. The gendarmes intend to focus on the fight against attacks on property and people and the defense of vital points of interest, that is to say nuclear power plants or national palaces. Depending on the number of staff who may be unavailable, certain assignments may be postponed or even canceled. Leave and days of rest could be suspended and reservists called in for reinforcement.

"Excluding emergencies, people can contact the gendarmes day and night thanks to the digital brigade," recalls a source close to the file, specifying that the brigades nevertheless remain open, the soldiers receiving the public "with all the necessary precautions".

Squadrons of mobile constables available

In Grasse, the 110 members of a gendarmerie squadron and their families have been confined since Thursday after the discovery of two cases of coronavirus among the workforce. But other units can be mobilized, reassures someone close to the file. In fact, with the ski resorts now closed, half a dozen squadrons of mobile gendarmes usually assigned to the mountains can now switch to other missions.

Finally, the police were asked to enforce, during their patrols, the order closing shops, bars and restaurants. The penalty incurred is a first class ticket of 38 euros. In the coming days, if the government decides to confine the population and introduce a curfew, the gendarmes could also be mobilized to enforce this decision. "It is necessary that the prefects receive directives which would then be declined in each department", explains a source close to the file. Adding: “For the moment, there is none. "

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