Have acts of violence increased in recent months in France?

• After the media coverage of several attacks and miscellaneous facts, right-wing elected representatives took up the subject of insecurity, denouncing an increase in violence in the country and a laxity of the executive.
• "The health crisis of recent months, and in particular the growing obligation to wear a mask, has created a climate of tension and raised the specter of violence", explains Olivier Hassid, security consultant.
• According to Laurent Mucchielli, a sociologist specializing in questions of security and urban violence, "the idea that insecurity is on the rise is only a media and political construction".

Bus drivers beaten up for asking to wear masks. A mayor hit with fists this Tuesday in Seine-et-Marne for a neighborhood problem. Or even images of burnt cars and vandalized shops Sunday evening around the Champs-Élysées after the PSG-Bayern match. Aggression and incivility made the headlines throughout the summer. "We honestly had unsatisfactory months of July and August, which I don't like at all," Prime Minister Jean Castex admitted on France Inter this Wednesday morning.

Faced with the proliferation of these various facts, the images of which were repeated in a loop by the media, many right-wing elected officials took up the subject of insecurity, denouncing an increase in violence in the country and a laxity of the 'executive. "The black hole of the five-year term is that a generalized disorder has settled in the country on security, immigration, secularism and, more generally, the crisis of authority", denounced the boss. of senators LR Bruno Retailleau. “It is general laxity and disrespect for authority that are at issue. The government allows areas of lawlessness and a feeling of impunity to develop, ”also declared the LR deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti. Faced with these statements, which are multiplying in this political re-entry, 20 Minutes  has verified whether acts of violence and insecurity in general have really been on the rise in recent months in France.

The situation is deteriorating in our country and verbal condemnations are no longer enough!

The penal response is not up to this outburst of violence. Those who undermine the authority of the Republic must sleep in prison! pic.twitter.com/w7hfwAkZwa

"The health crisis has created a climate of tension"

From the fatal assault on the bus driver in Bayonne on July 5, to the beating a few days later of the nurse on a bus who asked two young people to put on their masks, "insecurity is making the headlines again. and political speeches, ”recognizes Olivier Hassid, security consultant at PwC. “The health crisis of recent months, and in particular the growing obligation to wear a mask, has created a climate of tension and raised the specter of violence. There is an atmosphere of obvious insecurity, with issues of incivility that lead to acts of violence, ”analyzes the security expert.

"The contestation of certain government measures, and the fact that a large part of the population does not adhere to them, has caused many tensions in society", also recognizes Laurent Mucchielli, sociologist specializing in security issues and urban violence, research director at CNRS. "But we must not mix everything up, these acts of protest in no way reflect an increase in violence and attacks in our country," warns the sociologist.

No increase in delinquency

According to Interstats, the internal security statistical service attached to the Interior Ministry, the acts of violence recorded by the police and the gendarmerie have increased in the past two months. More than 69,000 acts of assault and battery over 15 years and over were noted from May to July, an increase of 21% compared to the previous quarter. “These are figures to be put in context. During confinement, there was a collapse of what is called public highway crime (theft, burglary, degradation brawl, altercation ...). In a city like Marseille, for example, the crime rate has fallen by 70%. It is therefore quite logical that after the deconfinement, we are witnessing a "return to normal" with a sudden increase in the figures ", analyzes Laurent Mucchielli.

"The evocation of a" wildness of a part of society "by the Minister of the Interior suggests that violence is on the rise in France. But police statistics do not show any conflagration in the country ”, also explains Olivier Hassid. “The highly publicized acts of violence suggest that they are on the increase. But if we analyze the figures for the last ten years, there is no notable change in France. The number of homicides remains stable at 1.4 per 100,000 inhabitants ”.

"Insecurity", "wildness", "violence", etcetera. The government poaches on the lands of the far right https://t.co/vjYcFFYiAH

The same goes for the sociologist Laurent Mucchielli. “There is no more interpersonal violence in society today than there was 20 or 30 years ago, there is even less. Moreover, the evolution of thefts and burglaries is generally stable. There are small developments, ups and downs, effects of the economic crisis at times, but it's something that is generally stable. This idea that it is exploding everywhere is false ”.

"A political and media construction"

“When we look at trends, and analyze general population surveys (surveys of representative samples) that focus on the reality of victimization, and on the feeling of insecurity, nothing confirms the statements of politicians on a possible increase in violence, ”explains the sociologist specializing in security issues and urban violence.

According to Laurent Mucchielli, the idea that insecurity is on the rise is only a media and political construction. “I have been a researcher at the CNRS for 23 years and have worked in this field, and for 23 years I have regularly witnessed the same alerts which always come from the same political side. Crying out insecurity in order to better stand as a bulwark is one of the business bases of right-wing and far-right policies. With always the same way of proceeding, that is to say the serialization of various media reports on the news channels and on social networks ”.

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• Miscellaneous
• Aggression
• Statistics
• security
• Flight
• Delinquency
• Violence