Roubaix police: Emmanuel Macron denounces the "irresponsible behavior that kills"

Arthur de Laborde, with AFP 13:59 p.m., May 25, 2023

Emmanuel Macron denounced Thursday the "irresponsible behavior that kills" during the national tribute paid in Roubaix to the three policemen killed by "a driver", saluting "all those who risk their lives and sometimes lose it to save so many others".

"In the face of the pain of their families, in the face of the pain of their colleagues, in the face of the mourning of the French people, silence should suffice. But talking about them becomes necessary to pay tribute to their destiny, to express respect and affection to those who serve and protect, and to denounce irresponsible behavior that kills," the head of state said in the courtyard of the national police academy in the northern city.

The three police officers posthumously decorated with the Legion of Honour

He recalled that Sunday, while on mission, the young police Paul, Steven and Manon, aged 24 to 25, had been swept away by "a vehicle that they could neither see nor foresee", which was driving "in the opposite direction, with an open grave", driven by "a driver drunk and under the influence of drugs". The three police officers were posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour.

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But the President of the Republic wanted to extend his tribute to all state agents victims of violence, after having denounced the day before in the Council of Ministers a form of "decivilization". He cited the premeditated murder Monday of a nurse at the University Hospital of Reims by a man suffering from schizophrenia and paranoia.

"Tribute to all those who risk their lives and sometimes lose them to save so many others"

Emmanuel Macron deplored that "too many of our public officials" have been "carried away in the exercise of their mission in recent years", saluting "all those who, at their task every day, ostensibly serve the French". "Tribute to all those who risk their lives and sometimes lose them to save so many others," he said.

"National police, gendarmes, municipal police, firefighters, rescuers, nurses, doctors, teachers and so many others, all those who, in the humility of service, take care of our compatriots and protect, deserve respect and consideration," he insisted.