His speech was expected as relations between the government and parliamentarians have deteriorated in recent days.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin was heard on Monday by the Laws Commission of the National Assembly, in a context of controversies around the “global security” law and police violence.
And to ease tensions, the Minister of the Interior defended the police and listed “
seven deadly sins
” at the origin of “
structural problems
” committed by previous governments.
To read also: After the filmed violence, the police put to the test of suspicion
A problem of police training
Gérald Darmanin began his enumeration with a "
fundamental error
", namely "
the little training we offer our police officers.
""
Shortening the initial training (..) was not a good measure
", he declared, while his predecessor Christophe Castaner took this decree within the framework of the law of August 2019 of transformation of the public function.
According to the current tenant of Beauvau, “
being a police officer, late at night, in difficult neighborhoods, in difficult situations
” requires more training.
The Minister of the Interior would like the police to follow “
lifelong training.
"
"There are not enough chefs present in the street"
The problem is also on the side of the framework.
For Gérald Darmanin, "
we must recreate a body of more numerous supervisory intermediaries
" in the field.
Read also: Global security law: "Behind this political crisis, a series of sins of amateurism"
A glaring lack of equipment in good condition
The material currently made available to the police is "
not sufficient
", according to the Minister of the Interior.
Police officers must work in conditions "
of greater serenity
" and no longer have "
dilapidated and inadequate premises
" which can affect the quality of their work.
Pedestrian cameras will be generalized on July 1, 2021
While the issue of images is at the heart of the debate, Gérald Darmanin wishes to provide all law enforcement agencies with pedestrian cameras by July 1.
"
If the police brigade of the 17th (arrondissement of Paris) had pedestrian cameras on it, probably we would have understood from the false (reports) made by the police, and the chief could have looked at the images
", developed the minister, referring to the assault by police officers of Michel Zecler in his Parisian studio.
The “global safety” law must in particular allow the use of images from pedestrian cameras upon return from work.
On the evolution of the IGPN, Gérald Darmanin is "ready to study everything"
“
Like any institution, it must be looked at, improved.
»No preferential treatment for the IGPN - the General Inspectorate of the National Police.
"
If it was that bad, the Paris public prosecutor would not have seized it
", he however qualified.
To read also: Guillaume Tabard: "A disowned minister, a revenged Parliament"
There is "no divorce between the police and the population"
Defending the police, Gérald Darmanin swept away any effective “
divorce
” between the population and its police forces.
On the other hand, the minister admitted having to "
make understand the difficulties which the police officers live and also to understand how the population wishes today the exercise of the legitimate force.
"
The tenant of Beauvau has also announced that he wants to increase the number of reservist police to 30,000 against 6,000 currently.
No change of position on article 24 of the text "global security"
The minister will not back down on article 24 - the majority of which has announced a rewrite - which is however controversial.
“
I am not a number fetishist (...) but I am a protection fetishist for police and gendarmes.
My position, which is that of the government and the president, is that we absolutely must keep (...) the protection of the police,
”said the minister.
Faced with the concern of the press about the supervision of police images, Gérald Darmanin affirmed that “
the protection of the police and the protection of press freedoms are not in competition, but in complementarity.
"
Renewed confidence in Prefect Didier Lallement
After his questioning by several members of the political class, the Ministry of the Interior reiterated its "
confidence
" in the prefect Didier Lallement, assuring that it is to himself, "
the political authority above (the prefect)
”, to assume the criticisms.