Poissy (AFP)

"Some have not known the euro, smartphones do not talk about it": at the central house of Poissy (Yvelines), the releases after long prison sentences are prepared with extreme "vigilance", in order to avoid the "shock" of returning to civilian life.

At age 40, including fourteen in prison, Paul * is waiting for a response to his request for parole. "In the end, it's a bit the same as when you wait for judgment and know where you're going," he stamps in his own cell.

"Since the beginning of my sentence, I have taken my reinsertion in hand, I have found a home, I have a job waiting, I just want to find a simple life," he says. storing in his own cell his purchases of "canteen".

Former detainees told him about "automatisms" kept outside, such as "waiting in front of a door". Smartphones, he does not know but he fears little digital divide: "I work on a computer all day, I learned to create applications on tablet and I buy magazines on new technologies."

Behind the high walls of the bicentennial jail, located in the heart of the city, 35 of the 198 inmates are serving a sentence of life imprisonment. About a third of the prisoners are over 50 years old, the oldest are 75 years old. Many have always counted in francs, which we have not used for 17 years.

"In prison, we pay close attention to the arrival and the prison shock.We are the opposite, we are hyper vigilant when we approach the end of the sentence or development, especially after 15, 20, 30 years in prison, "says Isabelle Lorentz, the deputy director of the prison.

"The long sentences are virtuous phases and moments of depression. (...) We take the time, we accompany, we tag, we always make lace and it is this individual work that allows to avoid recidivism, "said Ms. Lorentz, who greets each of the detainees by name.

In the power plant landscape, Poissy has the reputation of being "cushy" and does not have "big profiles" as in Condé-sur-Sarthe (Orne) or Clairvaux (Aube).

It works like the others in "closed door" mode, with opening of cells at 7H, reinstatement for lunch and fire extinction at 19H. During the day, detainees can "go from point A to point B without being accompanied by a supervisor," says Lorentz.

- "Lace" -

"They manage their schedule," says Pauline Charles, head of the Prison and Probation Service (SPIP). 75% of prisoners have a paid activity and nearly half are enrolled in the school. Creative hobby workshops allow inmates to "work patience, relate to others" and "re-accustom to the outside world," she adds.

With their prison counselors of insertion and probation (CPIP), "they work on the passage to the act, the recognition of the facts, the place of the victim", bounces Ms. Lorentz.

If "it's the right time", a sentence application will be prepared "at least five years before the release," says the Deputy Director. "We avoid presenting projects that do not hold the road," she slips.

She remembers an inmate who is persuaded to find housing in one day. Or another released after 23 years of detention, with a handy guide to using his brand new smartphone.

The "most exhausting" for Paul * was to prepare this release, send CV and cover letter to his relatives to apply for his place, not having access to the Internet.

During the first "exit preparation module", tested by the institution since April, "the detainees were reminded of the importance of two things coming out: buy a mobile phone and create an internet address. (...) It worried them a lot, "says Lisa Neuman, one of the CPIPs.

* The name has been changed

© 2019 AFP