The socialist mayor of Marseille Benoît Payan asked Gérald Darmanin on Friday for a "
three-year catch-up plan
" for the police force in the city, deeming the reinforcement of 300 police officers in the Bouches-du-Rhône as insufficient, announced by the Minister of Interior.
"
The announcement of the return of 300 national police officers, including 100 in 2021 in Bouches-du-Rhône is a first step, necessary and positive, but which is not enough
", reacted in a press release the town hall of Benoît Payan, who spoke with Gérald Darmanin, visiting Marseille on Thursday and Friday.
Read also: In Marseille, Gérald Darmanin strengthens his plan to fight drugs
“
These recruitments bring us closer to the situation as it was in 2018. Today Marseille has only one agent for 692 inhabitants, while the average of the large metropolises in our country is one agent for 409 inhabitants
», Continues the municipality.
"
There are 900 national police officers who are lacking in Marseille for equality to be restored,
" adds the town hall.
"
It is not up to the municipality to take the place of the State, which must assume
", she believes.
"
This is why, during this interview, the mayor of Marseille invited the minister to set up a three-year Republican catch-up plan for the national police force in Marseille, with the objective of recruiting 300 police officers per year.
», Adds the town hall in this press release.
Thursday, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had moved to the northern districts of the city, plagued by drug trafficking, to announce the arrival of 300 police officers over three years, including 100 in 2021.
Read also: Benoît Payan, a socialist apparatchik who claims to want to save Marseille from bankruptcy
During a meeting at the regional prefecture, the minister announced to elected officials that he would return "
every six weeks
" to the Bouches-du-Rhône to take stock of "
the progress of the fight against narcotics
“, Also declared his cabinet to AFP.
After briefly inaugurating the Rognac gendarmerie barracks on Friday afternoon, the minister was due to go to Arles.
