Le Figaro Marseille
It’s a traditional meeting that’s a bit special for Frédérique Camilleri.
At the head of the Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters for more than three years, breaking the record for longevity in this area, the woman who is leaving Marseille next month for Évry and the Essonne prefecture invited the press to look in the rearview mirror one last time.
A 2023 assessment as sensitive for the senior civil servant about to be promoted as it is agitated, marked by a succession of unequaled crises and high-risk events in Bouches-du-Rhône.
Between unprecedented riots, a papal visit and an explosion of narchomicides, the first woman at the head of the police headquarters assumes her choices.
A record of narchomicides linked to a “bloody war”
The year 2023 was the deadliest year on the assassination front, against a backdrop of drug trafficking in Bouches-du-Rhône.
No less than 49 people died in narchomicides in the department.
An assessment that Frédérique Camilleri attributes less to her policy of shelling deal points than to
“the bloody war between the DZ Mafia and Yoda, with a fairly unprecedented year both on the profile of these younger people and whose links with these gangs are not necessarily very well established, and a strategy of intimidation based on terror, with an extremely violent modus operandi both in itself and in the staging of the violence.
“We noticed how quickly one clan responded to another, sometimes in the evening
,” reports Frédérique Camilleri.
The police chief, however, welcomes
"a lull over the last three months on the assassination front"
, and indicates that 78 members of two clans have been arrested and imprisoned to date.
“There are still arrests and this figure is likely to increase
,” says the prefect.
Also readMarseille: who is behind the DZ Mafia and Yoda, these gangs responsible for bloody score-settling?
A prefect
“
accounting” for the action of Marseille police officers targeted by IGPN investigations
Last summer was also marked by a wave of riots like Marseille had never experienced, including in 2005, followed by a deep crisis within the Marseille police.
The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IPGN) has in fact opened several investigations targeting police officers as part of interventions during its riots.
A man, Mohamed Bendriss, died on the sidelines of these riots.
A member of the anti-crime squad was also placed in pre-trial detention in the Hedi case, named after this young man who had part of his skull amputated during the riots last July.
A decision which provoked an unprecedented wave of protest among the police, resulting in a cascade of sick leave.
“I am responsible for the actions of the police and gendarmes in the actions in Bouches-du-Rhône and they have a framework within which they must intervene,”
recalls Frédérique Camilleri.
And they know this framework.
We are lucky to live in a country where, including the public force, it is subject to even stricter rules than for ordinary citizens because it holds legitimate force.
And when any citizen considers that this framework has been violated, they have a body to which they can turn, which is the courts, which take legal action against the IGPN.
There have been investigations.
It is the symptom of a State that operates with rules of law that apply to everyone.”
And the police chief adds, in a rare exercise of recognition of responsibilities:
“I am at the head of these police officers and these gendarmes, and therefore, obviously, I am necessarily fully accountable for their balance sheet.”
Major events without incident
The year 2023 was the year of all dangers for the police chief of Bouches-du-Rhône, who had to ensure the security of large-scale events, from the Pope's visit to Marseille to the World Cup from rugby to the first test event of the sailing events in preparation for the Olympic Games.
“We have been able to host many major events without any difficulty,”
emphasizes Frédérique Camilleri.
We can be proud of that.
As far as my field is concerned, the contract was to prevent an act of delinquency from tainting the smooth running of events, to avoid something that tarnishes the image of Marseille and therefore of France. .
This is what we talk about at these events.
It has a global impact when you have serial thefts in queues for example, problems with attacks
.
As a reminder, for the Rugby World Cup alone, Marseille welcomed 374,996 spectators to the Vélodrome over six matches.
Read alsoVisit of Pope Francis to Marseille: an exceptional security system
The OM/OL match, “a very big waste”
If the rugby competitions took place without incident, the year 2023 was marked by violent clashes between Lyon and Marseille supporters last October, during which the OL bus was stoned and the club coach injured. .
The next day, the security system found itself heavily criticized, and Frédérique Camilleri on the front line.
“I think the OM/OL match was a very big waste,”
complains the police chief.
We had carried out unprecedented work between the Marseille and Lyon supporters who participated in the same meeting.
I see that it only took a few people to undermine what had been planned, and in all sincerity, that does not encourage me to continue this type of approach.
The harm they do is lasting.
And that evening, the person who was put in the hot seat was the police chief.
I have no regrets about getting the supporters to talk.
Those who smashed the bus are the ones responsible but in the public debate, that’s not what came out that evening.”
At the end of the match, nine people were arrested and five police officers injured.