• This is a first in Marseille, since July 1, CRS are specifically responsible for monitoring the creek of Sormiou.

  • Their mission?

    Have a dissuasive role to avoid any overflow.

  • Too loud music, thefts in car parks, waste thrown into the sea... The five agents are also mandated to verbalize and challenge the most recalcitrant.

In the Calanque de Sormiou in Marseille, one of the most beautiful coves in the Calanques National Park, popular with tourists and locals alike, the beach is now monitored by CRS, in order to combine prevention and possible verbalizations in the event of incivility. .

This is a first in Marseille: since July 1, five agents have been dispatched to this beach at the request of the city of Marseille, in order to maintain order there.

In his wooden lifeguard station, with a breathtaking view of the creek, Franck observes in the distance, binoculars in hand.

He is the referent CRS of the sector, head of the beach and of the first aid station in Sormiou.

“We monitor swimming, boats in the distance, parking, the beach,” he explains.

“They help, on the beach and at sea, but obviously, as they are police officers, they look to see if there are any acts of delinquency.

If there are, they intervene directly ”, summarizes the police chief of Bouches-du-Rhône, Frédérique Camilleri, about these CRS-lifeguards.

“There can be hundreds of people on very small beaches, so it can create tension,” she explains.

Thefts from cars in the parking lot, loud music, waste thrown into the sea: from now on, these actions will be controlled and punished.

“deterrent” device

The device is intended to be “deterrent”, on this beach “fairly out of the way” for which “the intervention times of the national police are longer”, raises Frédérique Camilleri.

“Our primary objective is to do prevention,” adds Franck.

But, in the event of overflow, the police can also challenge the most recalcitrant.

If their presence could intrigue the bathers, "everything is going very well, the atmosphere is obviously good", assures the prefect like the police.

For Yohann Massal, a 47-year-old Marseillais who has frequented this cove "since (his) birth", the change is notable: "Since they have been there, we have been quiet, we can leave our things on the beach" without fear of theft.

“It has to last,” he smiles, watching his two daughters play in the sand.

Our file on the creeks

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The creeks of the creeks of Marseille, protected natural areas, welcome thousands of people a day during the summer, despite their small size.

Company

Marseille: A new security system put in place to protect the city's 57 kilometers of coastline

Planet

Marseille: Overcrowded, "Sugiton is in danger", warns the director of the Calanques National Park

  • Security

  • CRS

  • creeks

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