INTERVIEW
Police and gendarmes must not feel abandoned by the state. This was explained by Brice Hortefeux, former Minister of the Interior, on Europe 1. He considers that the latest declarations and threats of sanctions from Christophe Castaner, the current tenant of Place Beauvau, do not go into the common sense. In La France bouge, he expressed his support for the police and urged the Minister of the Interior to do the same, while the police demonstrated in Paris.
"The police today perceive a certain distrust of power"
Asked about these rallies, Brice Hortefeux believes that, when he was a minister, he did not have to face such demonstrations. "That does not mean that there were no difficulties but I never had to face a demonstration of such magnitude, so it is a signal. It is the signal of a discomfort which is confirmed over this period. Last October, there had already been a demonstration mobilizing 20,000 police officers, "he recalls. This situation is, according to him, due to the fact that "the police today perceive a certain distrust of the power with regard to its action".
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"Everything happens as if we forgot, that the police are paying a terrible tribute to the violence of our society," said Brice Hortefeux. "The last known figures state that 20,000 police and gendarmes were attacked and injured on mission. Today there are 100 attacks on the depositary of public order every day," he said. "I am an elected official, I exercised these functions and I belong to the Republicans (LR) and we are resolutely on the side of the police and the gendarmerie."
"The police are like society, they are diverse"
"There have obviously been blunders and I am waiting for the Minister of the Interior to make it clear that the police and the gendarmerie are neither racist nor violent. There may be isolated cases, but the police are today, like society, it is diverse. " The first step is therefore to "thank the forces responsible for ensuring the security and protection of citizens".
Then, according to Brice Hortefeux, "remember that the police are like society". "Like many French people I was shocked that a black CRS was attacked, insulted and treated as 'sold' by demonstrators. These are images that are unacceptable in our society. We must be very vigilant on this. "
"If an individual is recalcitrant, it is not by hypnosis that we will immobilize him"
"Third element, when there are abuses, they must be condemned." The former Minister of the Interior recalls that when he was in business with the director general of the national police at the time, Frédéric Péchenard, "there were between 100 and 125 police officers dismissed each year". "The police are among the most watched bodies of the state. 64% of the sanctions which are addressed to the civil servants are for police officers. While they represent only 7% of the manpower of the public service."
Brice Hortefeux is also concerned about the abandonment of the so-called strangulation method. "If an individual is recalcitrant, it is not by hypnosis that we will immobilize him", he believes, while warning that the taser, mentioned as an alternative has also been challenged. "If we introduce new techniques, what is the deadline for training? Today, nothing is indicated, nothing is planned." For Brice Hortefeux, it is up to Christophe Castaner to reassure the police. "He needs to speak out, encourage and support."