Charles Guyard 8:24 p.m., September 27, 2022
The recent events which have made the headlines in Nantes have revived the question of insecurity.
From now on, the inhabitants are doubling their vigilance to go out in the evening, as they entrust to the microphone of Europe 1. An upsurge in the number of acts of violence on the public highway, in particular linked to the demographic increase.
After a rape in a meeting and the attack on a police officer, the question of security arises more than ever in Nantes.
Even if the prefect relativizes, the feeling of insecurity is very present among the inhabitants.
Because now, when it comes to going out at night, its inhabitants think twice.
Young women confide in the microphone of Europe 1: "I try to always be accompanied by a man. And if I don't have a man with me, at least by girlfriends."
Another is more category: "Even between girls, I say no. I even refused to go out, I had paid for my place at the Warehouse and finally I canceled because I knew I was going to find myself alone afterwards. And in transport, I can't..." Here, "there is a lot of insecurity".
"I come from Rennes and I feel less comfortable in Nantes. Yes, it's a bigger city, but still," says a Breton living in the city of Loire-Atlantique.
"Nantes has changed status over the past 20 years"
Nantes has changed its face in two decades.
Demography has doubled, which may explain an increase in perceived but real insecurity.
The acts of violence on the public highway have started to rise again since the end of the health crisis, but without returning to the levels before.
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"If we compare 2022 with the years before Covid, we do not yet find, and so much the better, the same level of violence on the public highway", explains Didier Martin, prefect of Loire-Atlantique.
“There is clearly a catch-up effect compared to the very sharp declines which had been observed in 2020 and 2021, so I understand that this marks our fellow citizens. It must also be said that Nantes has changed status over the past 20 years. has a level of crime commensurate with its new status as a major European metropolis."
Support for the police officer seriously injured following a refusal to comply in Nantes.
In order to carry out many police operations there, a mobile force unit is sent there this evening on my instruction and the CRS 8 will be on site tomorrow.
– Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) September 27, 2022
And to respond to this new configuration, 70 police officers have been recruited here since January 2021. This Tuesday evening, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin announced on Twitter a reinforcement of the police force and the deployment of CRS specialized in violence urban.