"Hold the republican line", the letter from the Paris prefect to the police

The prefect of Paris, Didier Lallement, August 1, 2020. -

In a particularly tense context between the police and the citizens, against a backdrop of police violence and the “global security” law, the Paris police prefect, Didier Lallement, asked the police under his authority to hold “the republican line until” at the end ”, in a letter to each of them.

While the beating by police officers of a black music producer in his Parisian studio, raised a wave of indignation, the prefect said he could "count on probity, a sense of honor and ethics" police officers.

This beating was made public thanks to the dissemination of a video on social networks.

"The requirement that I place in you, I also impose it on myself"

"To deviate from the republican line which serves as our guide, this line which has illuminated the footsteps of our elders in the darkness of history, is to deny what we are, it is to undermine the pact of confidence that unites us to our fellow citizens, it means losing the sense of our mission, ”wrote the Prefect in this letter.

Emphasizing "expect each (of them) to hold the line until the end", he adds: "the requirement that I place in you, I also impose it on myself".

"In the coming days, the next few weeks (…) there is no doubt that you will be faced with difficulty, doubts, even anger or fear".

"I know, however, that you will fulfill yourselves, as men and women of character," concludes Didier Lallement.

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• Police

• Prefect

• Paris

• Society