"The President of the Republic, on my proposal, has appointed Laurent Nunez Prefect of Police. It is the choice of a man of experience who knows the @prefpolice perfectly and who has exercised many national responsibilities", wrote in a tweet Mr. Darmanin, adding: "the safety of Ile-de-France residents will be our priority".

Also in a tweet, the Minister of the Interior paid "tribute" to Didier Lallement "for his action, in difficult conditions, in a context of significant terrorist threat, at the head of the Prefecture of Police during these three last years".

"He brought honor to the Republic," assured Gérald Darmanin.

The departure of Mr. Lallement, in office since March 2019 and who had very conflicting relations with the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, was welcomed by the first deputy mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire.

"Welcome to the new prefect of police of Paris, @NunezLaurent! We look forward to working with him and all the @prefpolice teams", he tweeted as soon as the appointment was known.

Aged 58, Laurent Nuñez, a specialist in security issues, knows the Paris prefecture perfectly, having been chief of staff to the prefect of police Bernard Boucault between 2012 and 2015.

Enarque, he was also police chief of Bouches-du-Rhône from 2015 to 2017.

Before being appointed in 2018 Secretary of State to Christophe Castaner, he was head of the General Directorate of Homeland Security for a little over a year.

After leaving Place Beauvau in July 2018, he joined the Elysée to coordinate the "task force" against terrorism.

Mr Lallement's departure is not linked to the Stade de France fiasco in the Champions League final at the end of May.

The prefect had indeed announced to his troops several weeks earlier that he would leave the PP this summer, no later than August 27, the date of his 66th birthday.

In a letter addressed to the agents of the PP, Mr. Lallement explains that he "asked that he be terminated (his) functions" considering in particular having "reached an age which is not compatible with high intensity operational functions" .

"I want to be lucid: we do not order women and men when we are old enough to be a grandfather", he writes.

"I leave with the pride of a job well done. But I am still hurt by the failure of the Stade de France. Admittedly, that evening, we saved lives but the country's reputation was damaged".

He specifies that he will leave the PP on "July 21" and says his "esteem" to his successor.

© 2022 AFP