"The operation was planned long before the tension rises again a notch", promises Florence Adam, divisional commissioner in charge of the nineteenth arrondissement of Paris. This Tuesday evening, in the Stalingrad district, 110 police officers were deployed for a vast anti-crack operation. This show of force comes after a weekend of unprecedented clashes. Two nights in a row, mortar fire rang out on Avenue de Flandre, targeting the hundred drug addicts who have been squatting the premises and spoiling the lives of residents for many months. Facts attributed by many to residents who are fed up with the situation.
"We organize this type of operation when we see a deterioration in the relationship between drug addicts, between drug addicts and residents, or between drug addicts and law enforcement," says Florence Adam.
With such an intervention, we remind them that this territory is not theirs, that they do not do what they want there, that they must follow the rules.
"
In total, eight arrests were made.
Florent Helaine
The objective is then to seal off the sector, to send a park unit Eole, where drug addicts gather during the day, then to direct them towards the place Stalingrad to control them.
This Tuesday, a hundred must have shown a white paw.
“This is how we identify infringements if there are any, irregular situations.
Eight arrests were made.
Residents want more police
A job “totally distinct from that carried out daily, which consists in keeping public spaces quiet, and in seeking resellers to, if possible, trace back to those who make the crack cakes.
“Five operations against crack are indeed carried out every day in Stalingrad, according to the commissioner.
This deployment has not gone unnoticed by residents.
Many came to question the policewoman, to discuss their daily life with her.
"This presence must be lasting, not a simple sword in the water, insists Jacques.
We haven't slept for a year.
We need political awareness to obtain substantial means.
"
Read also Paris: MP Mahjoubi wants to open a shooting room ... place des Invalides
"We are present 7 days a week, day and night," replies the commissioner. Since the beginning of January, no less than 5,000 police officers have taken turns to calm the situation. Last year, 530 arrests were made. Already more than 100 at the start of the year. But it is not all up to the police. It is a cross-cutting issue. “Words that echo those of the mayor of the borough, François Dagnaud (PS), who calls for a lasting relocation of consumers coupled with medico-social support.
It took a little over an hour for the operation to be completed. After this, the daily work just mentioned by Florence Adam was able to resume. Several mobile patrols remaining in place. And one, static, avenue de Flandre, to prevent mortar fire from recurring. A device that should last for a few more days.
