Paris (AFP)

A few hundred police gathered Wednesday noon near the headquarters of the Paris police headquarters, almost ten days after announcements by the Minister of the Interior on the upcoming abandonment of a controversial arrest technique and the fight against racism among the police.

At the call of the two main peacekeepers' unions, Unite-SGP and Alliance, these police officers, who for the most part were in civilian clothes, asked for "greater recognition" and an "end to the stigmatization "of their profession, in the words of a protester who wished to remain anonymous.

"The Minister of the Interior's remarks were a trigger but the evil is deep," said Grégory Joron, deputy secretary general of the Unity-SGP union, on Wednesday.

"Now we are trying to frame the anger at the base and get all the files, especially on the social agenda: hourly cycles, the question of careers, the merger of ranks or the status of night workers", continued the unionist.

"We have the same ailments as caregivers and we are trying to put people back at the center of the discussions," he added.

Ivan Assioma, Ile-de-France national secretary of the Alliance union, evokes feelings of "anger, frustration and bitterness" felt by the police after the words of Christophe Castaner. "It is the drop of water that made the vase overflow"

"We have heard the words of the Head of State who said that the police deserve the support of the Nation (Sunday during his speech) but action is now needed," added the union member.

"We need more firmness for attackers of the police and solve the problems of delinquency. It requires a stronger criminal response but also a plan to modernize the police. The last date of the BAC-PSIG plan in 2015-2016 ", he added.

"Since the attacks, the police have always responded present and we expected everything except a questioning. There is a breach of confidence that exceeds the minister and affects the whole government," said Assioma.

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