The police want to regain control in the "war of images"

Garges-Lès-Gonesse police officers equipped with “pedestrian cameras” in 2018 (illsutration photo) -

• The proposed law on "comprehensive security" is examined at first reading in the National Assembly from Tuesday.

  One of its most controversial provisions aims to penalize the malicious dissemination of images of police and gendarmes on social networks.

• Going more unnoticed, another measure intends to authorize the broadcasting of certain images shot directly by officers using their “pedestrian cameras”.

• More broadly, the text aims to provide more images to the police.

A coincidence of the calendar.

This Tuesday, November 17, the day of the second anniversary of "Act I" of "yellow vests", a movement which gave rise to the publication of an unprecedented volume of videos denouncing "police violence", the deputies will look at the LREM bill on “global security”.

Among its provisions - extension of the powers of municipal police, increased supervision of private security, security in transport, etc. -, the text aims to punish the "dissemination" of images allowing the identification of a police officer or a gendarme if this publication aims to “undermine his physical or mental integrity”.

A provision that raises the concern of many associations for the defense of public freedoms -

you about it in this article -, but also unions of journalists, filmmakers or even the Defender of Rights.

The debates promise to be lively in the hemicycle of the National Assembly, while the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, hinted last Friday on France Info that the measure could be reinforced during the examination by the deputies .

At the same time, it aims to give more tools to the police in this "war of images", as LREM deputy Jean-Michel Fauvergue described it during the examination of the text in committee, at the beginning of November.

Because, according to the co-author and co-rapporteur of the bill, the State "is losing" this battle of communication.

Faced with the many viral videos implicating the police on social networks, "we must fight on an equal footing", justified the elected official - also former boss of the Raid - in front of his colleagues.

"We live in a world of images"

Concretely, what does the text provide on this point?

In its article 21, it mainly allows the authorities to make public images from “pedestrian cameras” carried by the police and gendarmes in certain situations.

This publication will be authorized for the purpose of “informing the public about the circumstances” of the interventions.

"In the event of dissemination on social networks of a truncated video of interpellation, for example, which shows only part of things, we must not refrain from using images from pedestrian cameras", justifies the 'entourage of Gerald Darmanin,

.

"Why should the police be the only ones not able to make images public?

"

If the conditions of publication remain to be defined - a decree must detail the terms of application - the videos of the police are likely to lead to many controversies on social networks.

But for LREM deputy Alice Thourot, co-author and co-rapporteur of the bill, "having better information for the public is always something positive".

“We live in a world of images.

When there is a debate about how an intervention went, it helps to have more images to bring out the truth and take sanctions, from one side or the other!

She said to

.

"Building a government propaganda discourse"

Thierry Clair, number 2 of the Unsa police union, considers this legislative development positively.

“Often, when there are demonstrations, the situation is quite tense, with projective throws, burnt trash cans, broken windows ... And the image that will make the buzz, it is the police who gives a blow during of an arrest, ”he notes with

 And to add: "The war of images, for the police, it is always one-sided ... That is to say dependent.

"

During discussions in the law committee, Danièle Obono, deputy La France insoumise de Paris, relayed several reluctance to the text, accusing it in particular of "constructing a government propaganda discourse".

A criticism shared by the association for the defense of digital freedoms La Quadrature du Net: “The police are no longer solely responsible for protecting the population against offenses.

It is also intended for political communication in the same way as a political party or a militant newspaper - weapons and helicopters in addition.

"

Drones and video surveillance

But the broadcasting of videos from "pedestrian cameras" is only one provision among others to allow the police to have access to more images as part of their duties.

While the viewing authorization was difficult to obtain until now, the police and gendarmes will be able to directly consult the tapes of the “pedestrian cameras”.

La Quadrature du Net also fears that the police or gendarmes may themselves publish the images on social networks.

A fear swept aside by Alice Thourot: “The agents cannot recover the images.

They will not be able to delete or modify them either.

"

The images of the "pedestrian cameras" can also be transmitted in real time to the command post to "allow better control of an intervention or an arrest", according to the deputy.

Article 22 of the bill provides for the use of drones equipped with cameras.

“There was no legal framework for airborne cameras, even though drones are now available over the counter.

The legislator could not act as if they did not exist.

"

To complete the picture, the government, during the examination in committee, asked the deputies to authorize it to reform by ordinance to widen the use of traditional video surveillance.

An amendment withdrawn in view of the criticisms of some elected officials, who deplored the absence of Gérald Darmanin during the debates.

The discussion will therefore take place in the hemicycle of the Palais-Bourbon.

Society

Prohibit the dissemination of the faces of the police?

A bill on "global security" is controversial

Media

"Global Security" Law: Journalists' unions worried about press freedom

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