After all repression, place for all prevention?
Without being so caricatural, the new reorganization underway by the town hall of Villejuif (Val-de-Marne) - which will be discussed at the municipal council on May 20 - illustrates the ideological rupture between the former mayor Franck Le Bohellec (DVD) and his successor since 2020, Pierre Garzon (PCF).
This time, it concerns a very symbolic service: the municipal police.
Pierre Garzon has decided to deploy his agents differently, to eliminate several systems and to create new ones in order to bet on proximity.
"These weapons generate fear"
No more canine brigade.
It was launched with great fanfare in November 2018 with a demonstration of intervention by a dog handler.
“This mission must fall to the national police.
The municipal sector is complementary to this ”, justifies Sylvie Mantion (PS), 9th deputy in charge of peace and prevention.
Gone are also the use of the launcher of defense bullets (LBD) and the electric impulse pistol (PIE), better known under the name of its brand Taser.
These weapons bother Pierre Garzon: “They are very expensive without, however, contributing to the feeling of security.
On the contrary, they even generate a feeling of insecurity, of fear.
This is not what I am aiming for a local municipal police force.
But the agents will keep their firearms as part of their defense and the Vigipirate plan.
"
The fight against incivility reinforced
Pierre Garzon will create a mediation team this fall, which will be made up of eight agents and a supervisor. “They will provide social monitoring with the most vulnerable, technical monitoring to report malfunctions
(suction cups, lighting, etc.)
and manage minor conflicts
(noise, incivility, etc.)
”, explains Sylvie Mantion. "This unit will be different from the municipal police per se, but it will be attached to the same direction", specifies the mayor.
It will also launch a “living environment” brigade of five people. "It will act against incivility, illegal deposits, the deterioration of public goods ...", details the Communist mayor. Also, "prevention actions in schools will be more numerous and two police officers will be dedicated to this task", according to his assistant.
On the video surveillance side, Pierre Garzon keeps the cameras deployed by his predecessor but stops installing new ones.
"Video protection only moves the points of the deal," he believes.
Anyway, you can't put a camera behind everyone.
He asks, however, to postpone viewing the images to the police station and no longer to the town hall's urban supervision center.
Even if there should be a few operators behind the screen at certain time slots.
"It will be more effective in supporting the actions of the national police", according to Pierre Garzon.
The city would finance this transfer.
The former mayor DVD "worried about [his] city"
All these measures make Franck Le Bohellec jump, who made security a major issue of his mandate. It is he who created the municipal police of Villejuif in 2016 to fight in particular against drug trafficking and incivility. He allocated significant resources to it, reinforced its staff (17 police officers in 2018, it numbered around 40 and he was targeting 80 if he was re-elected), armed the agents, deployed video surveillance ...
"You are not going to send the agents into a complex situation at night with a baton and their mediation guide," launches Franck Le Bohellec.
The canine brigade made perfect sense for night shifts and also for the detection of illicit products.
Thus, the work in collaboration with the national police was effective and relevant.
Today, with the directions taken, I am very worried about my city.
When you are mayor, you are also responsible for the agents who are on the ground.
"
Read also Villejuif: four municipal police cars set on fire in the courtyard of the town hall
The former elected recalls that “security, mediation and prevention have been a priority in [his] mandate.
[…] The trajectory was the right one… But the ideology returns to the foreground ”, denouncing“ the unraveling ”of its measures by the new communist mayor:“ It started in many areas.
But listening to the Villejuifoises and Villejuifois on the ground, we may come to the end of the ball!
"
He fears an outbreak of delinquency to come: “There has been a sharp increase in burglaries for several months and the points of deal reappear and are accentuated in the city.
"