From the Alps to the Pyrenees, the vigilant gendarmerie in natural areas

If, since March 17, confinement has been problematic in the suburbs, it also concerns more rural areas such as mountainous areas where its control mobilizes very specific means. From the Alps to the Pyrenees, passing through the old massifs (Massif Central, Vosges, Jura), the gendarmes are on the front line. The epidemic of course requires adaptations such as staff turnover to avoid contamination as much as possible, or equipment disinfection protocols. With puzzles like respecting “social distancing” in a helicopter where space is limited…

Read also: Thibault de Montbrial: "Controlling compliance with confinement is increasingly difficult in the suburbs"

But the means are there: some 6,000 gendarmes are deployed in units classified as "mountains". Of this number, 300 very high-level specialists serve in the PGHM (high mountain gendarmerie platoons in the Alps, the Pyrenees, Corsica and Reunion) or PGM (mountain gendarmerie platoons, in the Massif Central, the Vosges and the Jura).

And 700 other gendarmes trained

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