Police gathered in front of the police headquarters - Thibaut Chevillard

  • Several hundred police demonstrated on Wednesday at Place Louis Lépine, outside the Paris police headquarters.
  • They denounce the announcements made by the Minister of the Interior concerning the imminent abandonment of a controversial technique of arrest and the fight against racism among the police.
  • Believing that the link with Christophe Castaner is broken, the trade unions request an interview with the Head of State.

Holding in his left hand a flag representing a trade union organization, Matthieu * uses the other to replace his surgical mask on his nose. Like several hundred other police officers, he came to demonstrate this Wednesday in front of the police headquarters (4th) to denounce the "silly decisions" of the Minister of the Interior, "which hinder the work of the agents". This Parisian official, who has twenty years of service behind him, no longer places his "trust" in Christophe Castaner. "He and Laurent Nuñez, the secretary of state, don't like the police," he said. The proof, they prevent us from working. "

The divorce seems indeed pronounced between the first cop of France and his troops. Several trade unionists present at the rally are whispering - or even hoping - that he could be replaced on Place Beauvau thanks to an upcoming reshuffle. The names of possible successors are already circulating. Jean Castex, the “Monsieur déconfinement”, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frédéric Péchenard, former director of the national police and LR vice-president of the Ile-de-France region…

"Castaner told the assembly on Tuesday that he was the" first defender "of the police. But the police can no longer hear that from him today, "continues Mathieu, who still crosses his throat the two main measures announced by the Minister of the Interior at a press conference on June 8: abandonment of the "strangulation" key, suspension of police in the event of "proven suspicion" of racism. An awkward formula that many agents also find it hard to forgive him, although Christophe Castaner then clarified his remarks.

"The police were deeply injured"

Since then, police have organized rallies almost every day across France to protest. "It was a trigger," said Patrice Ribeiro, general secretary of the Synergie officers union. "These announcements were made in the middle of a" police bashing "sequence, and the police were deeply injured. His statement was seen as a disavowal for colleagues by the highest summit in the state, "he adds. Before summing up the situation: “Not only do we not recognize our suffering and difficulties, but we are also overwhelmed. "

"The police feel they are all being punished for bullshit they hadn't done. While they are for the most part irreproachable, "insists Ivan Assioma, Ile-de-France national secretary of the Alliance union, denouncing a" collective punishment ". In the ranks, the accusations of systemic racism denounced during recent demonstrations against police violence go badly. Many people do not understand that the minister has spoken on the subject.

“Racists, there are in the police as everywhere. But we refute the terms "state racism", insists Rocco Contento, Paris manager of the union SGP police-FO union. Mathieu, the Parisian officer, underlines that "the police are in the image of society", with civil servants of all origins, and "people who say bullshit, as in all professions. But the police are not a racist institution. ”

"Confidence breach"

The minister did try Tuesday to respond to those who accuse him of having "dropped" the police. But the damage is done. Today, "there is a breach of confidence that exceeds the minister," said Ivan Assioma. The police, he says, feel "abandoned by the government" while, since the attacks, "the police have always responded." He expected "everything except a questioning".

Rocco Contento wants above all "recognition and support from the Minister, who must file a complaint as soon as a police officer is attacked or defamed". The unionist regrets that Christophe Castaner did not react more when the singer Camélia Jordana accused the police of "massacring" people "for no other reason than their skin color".

“We can ask the police to be blameless. However, the government must solve the problems of delinquency and be more firm vis-à-vis attackers of the police. This requires a stronger criminal response, but also a plan to modernize the police, ”added the Parisian representative of Alliance. Patrice Ribeiro, from Synergie, pleads for his part for the creation of minimum sentences for those who attack the police.

As a sign that the break is complete, the trade union organizations no longer want to address the Minister of the Interior as a priority and ask to meet Emmanuel Macron directly. "Until we have seen him, we cannot prevent the police from expressing their dissatisfaction," said Ivan Assioma. Rocco Contento expects from the Head of State "strong acts". Like the replacement of the Minister of the Interior?

* The first name has been changed

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  • Christophe Castaner
  • Police officer
  • Police
  • Paris
  • Society
  • Demonstration
  • Police violence