Christophe Castaner plans to respond to the angry police on Friday in a letter he will address to their union organizations in the evening, the unions announced.
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" He planned to respond to us in a letter at 8 p.m. or later in the evening to resolve the ambiguities, " Patrice Ribeiro of the Synergie union (officers) told AFP after his interview with the minister of the Interior. The unions are waiting for Christophe Castaner to go back on his announcement Monday to ban the " throttling key ", one of the techniques for arresting violent people, before an alternative method can be implemented.
" He will write to us this evening." He will quickly decide. He assured us that there would be no gray area, that we would not leave the police without the ability to carry out their core business (...) There is no question that we find ourselves with nothing in the coming days , "added David Le Bars, of the union of police commissioners, who succeeded Patrice Ribeiro in the minister's office. " He will refine his thinking on the methods of arrest, " added Patrice Ribeiro, without further details.
In front of the trade unionists, Christophe Castaner also recognized " bullshit ", " a blunder " of language when he announced Monday the suspension of any official in the event of " proven suspicion " of racism. For the Minister, this provisional suspension can only be decided in the event of proven facts.
" We know that Christophe Castaner did not speak on his own initiative Monday but because the President of the Republic asked him to, " said Patrice Robeiro, recalling the union's request to be received by the head of state. " We want," he said, "to show his gratitude to the police ." Thursday, Christophe Castaner received the union representatives of the peacekeepers and Friday those of the officers and the commissioners.
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