Europe 1 with AFP 15:33 pm, March 25, 2023

Implicated in several cases of police violence during the days of demonstrations against the pension reform, the BRAV-M should not be dismantled, said the prefect of police Laurent Nuñez. This is "obviously not on the agenda," he said on France Info.

Police Commissioner Laurent Nuñez said Saturday that the dismantling of the BRAV-M, a unit recently implicated in several cases of police violence in the context of demonstrations against the pension reform, is "obviously not on the agenda". "The behavior of a few individuals should not cast opprobrium on an entire unit that, in recent years, and especially at this time, proves all its usefulness," said the prefect on France Info.

Several ongoing judicial investigations against Brav-M

The BRAV-M are units of police officers circulating on motorcycles to ensure the maintenance of order in demonstrations in Paris, being more mobile than CRS companies or mobile gendarmes. Their mission is to go in contact with the thugs to stop the damage and challenge them. They are nevertheless criticized for their heavy-handed methods of intervention and are under several judicial investigations for violence against demonstrators.

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On Friday evening, the prefect of police announced that he had seized the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) after the broadcast of an audio recording, obtained by Le Monde and Loopsider, in which we hear police officers, presented as members of the BRAV-M, making insulting and humiliating remarks towards seven young demonstrators they had just arrested.

LFI MPs call for dissolution

Two judicial investigations were opened this week and entrusted to the IGPN following two complaints against BRAV-M police officers. The first was filed by a woman who was hit with a baton Monday night by a helmeted police officer, while she seemed motionless, stuck against a wall with other people in the Châtelet district, according to a video posted on social networks.

The second concerns the punch punched by a police officer in the face of a protester the same evening, captured by a video widely relayed on the internet. Several MPs from the France Insoumise called this week for the dissolution of the BRAV-M.