Frédéric Michel, edited by Alexandre Dalifard 06:18, 04 December 2023

In Nice, the sensitive district of Les Moulins will see the arrival of 17 armed and sworn officers. Former soldiers, gendarmes, police officers and security guards, they have just been recruited to provide security in this neighborhood plagued by drug trafficking and which has been the scene of several shootings.

In Nice, 17 armed and sworn officers have just been recruited. Former soldiers, gendarmes, police officers and security guards in training. They will be gradually deployed in the sensitive Moulins district from January onwards and will all be on the ground before the end of the first quarter. This district in the west of Nice is plagued by drug trafficking and has been the scene of several shootings in recent months. The city of Nice is the fourth in France to set up this system.

"A work of presence"

Equipped with batons, tear gas canisters and tactical protective vests, these officers will not intervene on public roads, but in private spaces: building lobbies, cellars, parking lots, green spaces. "Our work is one of presence, of occupying the field. It means fighting against the incivilities of savage daily life, against the deterioration of heritage and what falls within the competence of the police and stagecoaches," says Eric Zuber, director general of the Group of Inter-Landlord Agents against Disorders and Abuses (GAIDA).

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For the municipality of Nice, this presence will make it possible to fight against drug trafficking. Faced with this, the inhabitants of the Moulins district are divided. "It's not going to solve the problem. Kalashnikov against a security guard, did you see that?" asked a first resident. "We already had mediators who grew up here. And already, they themselves can't calm things down. So, I think security guards will be worse. Because we won't have that closeness with these young people, it won't be useful. Taxes wasted for nothing," laments a resident of the neighborhood. While for this gentleman, the city could do even more. "That's all well and good, but it would take more than security guards. We need the riot police, day and night," he told Europe 1 radio.

These security guards will also have to report technical problems, such as faulty lighting or a broken door, which are often the cause of the feeling of insecurity.