The presidential election but also the professional elections in the national police - which will be held in December 2022 - are approaching.
With this in mind, police commissioner Matthieu Valet, spokesperson for the Independent Union of Police Commissioners (SICP), makes a number of proposals on behalf of his organization to weigh in on the public debate.
Read alsoWhy do so many police officers commit suicide?
LE FIGARO. - You observe a "wildness" of society,
a term that the Minister of the Interior himself pronounced in July 2020
, what do you propose concretely?
Matthew Valet. -
The increase in attacks on people in 2021 confirms this observation.
Today, for a gold chain, a mobile phone, a skirt that is too short or a look, one can be smashed to death by lawless individuals.
Our flagship proposal is that there be a referral to justice and systematic incarceration for all physical attacks, gratuitous or to steal from someone.
It is necessary to proscribe the alternative sorrows - work of general interest and training courses of citizenship -, and the prison at the house - the electronic bracelet -, which are not used for nothing.
There are currently 40,000 prison places missing and a thug has to go to court ten times to go to prison.
The school of crime is not the fact of putting thugs in prison, it is the fact of letting thugs go free.
Our second flagship proposal is to introduce minimum penalties in the Penal Code, just as there are maximum penalties.
For example, for stabbings or assaults on police officers, you should risk a minimum sentence with a warrant of committal.
We no longer want a reprieve for these assaults.
Even short stays in prison have a deterrent effect.
There is a laxity of certain magistrates who judge in the name of the French people.
Today, one in ten thugs arrested for hitting a police officer, and who is brought before a magistrate, goes to prison.
We must put an end to impunity and tell the thugs: "
If you touch a policeman, a firefighter or an elected official, you will systematically go to prison
".
Police suicides are unfortunately regularly in the news. How to fight against this scourge?
Matthew Valet -
Suicides are the invisible enemy of our institution.
It is difficult to contain it and it can affect any of us.
The well-being of the policeman is first and foremost about being well at work.
For school outings, which often land in complicated neighborhoods, we recommend the establishment of a pair of a young person and an old person in the brigade.
The elder will train, advise and accompany the young person in his first steps.
Myself, when I started in Garges-lès-Gonesse (Val-d'Oise), I was lucky enough to work in pairs with Jacques, a veteran, who often served as my guide and allowed me not to feel alone in difficult situations.
There is also housing: a well-housed policeman is a policeman who feels good about himself.
For a young policeman,
accommodation is very complicated in tense regions.
Currently, social parks are managed by the prefecture.
We recommend a real housing policy for police officers with a national housing agency to which they can easily turn to obtain housing adapted to their income and their professional situation.
On social networks, you regularly denounce urban rodeos, overflows at weddings or mortar fire on the police. What effective measures should be taken?
Matthew Valet -
Concerning the rodeos, it is necessary to act in the law the tactical shock as in England.
This means that thugs who rodeo on the public highway, like the Daltons in Lyon, must be intercepted by the police by trusting their judgment and authorizing them to make contact with their vehicle.
Today it is not a shock of authority that is needed but political courage to put such a measure in place.
The double observation is simple: we have honest citizens who are verbalized when they run a red light and next to thugs on non-approved machines, and without helmets, who rodeo on the public highway, sometimes as far as the center- city, and endanger people's lives.
We must morally rearm society against these thugs who rot the daily lives of people.
Read alsoThe police disarmed in the face of wild rodeos
These thugs who make rodeos also put the bronx in the city centers with big sedans or motocross on the occasion of weddings.
We are proposing to create an offense which calls into question the responsibility of the bride and groom when there is a disturbance of public order - obstruction of roads, traffic violations, verbal and physical attacks on police officers or elected officials -, following the wedding arranged.
It is up to the bride and groom to make the guests responsible and not up to the company to suffer the incivilities of the guests.
Concerning the mortars, it is the first weapon of the thugs to attack the police officers in the districts.
We propose that the possession of a mortar without professional reason be considered as the possession of a weapon, in the same way as a knife or brass knuckles, and liable to custody.
Regarding drug trafficking, which is one of the government's priorities, should we go even further?
Matthieu Valet -
We must expose the thugs, economically and materially, from the small dealer to the big trafficker.
All bank accounts, movable property and real estate such as cars must be seized upstream and assigned to the police, gendarmerie and justice services.
In our neighborhoods, we need tax agents and customs agents to kick them in the wallet.
Many police officers complain about the “administrative burden”.
Should criminal proceedings be simplified?
Matthieu Valet -
The priority of justice must be the victim and not just the thug.
To rekindle the desire of the police to carry out investigations, the criminal procedure must be simplified.
Our flagship proposal is the creation of a single investigative framework for hearings, searches and arrests.
Today, there is the preliminary investigation and the flagrance investigation.
Criminal procedure is a legal straitjacket: a simpler framework is needed to facilitate the work of the police and magistrates.