Le Figaro Marseille
They came, they are all here.
In the large, richly decorated room of the Bouches-du-Rhône prefecture, behind the microphone, prefect Christophe Mirmand salutes one last time the effectiveness of the
“Camilleri method”
.
In front of him, all the actors who make Marseille come together.
A crowd as dense as it is heterogeneous, from Rachid Zeroual, leader of a group of OM supporters, to Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Secretary of State in charge of city policy, to Éric Arella, former boss from the PJ of Marseille, to the LFI deputy for the northern districts Sébastien Delogu, to Karima Meziene, close to a victim of a settling of scores at the head of a collective on the subject, to Martine Vassal, LR president of the metropolis and the department.
This Friday evening, Bouches-du-Rhône police chief Frédérique Camilleri organized her
“going away party”
, a few days before leaving Marseille permanently for Essonne where she will become prefect.
After being the first woman at the head of this institution, and the youngest at the age of barely 36, Frédérique Camilleri entered the history of the city by being the one who remained at the head of the institution the longest. Bouches-du-Rhône police headquarters.
When the government appointed the young woman in 2020, it was an understatement to say that she was expected.
She then succeeds Emmanuel Barbe, dismissed in November 2020 following two controversies, only nine months after taking office.
Upon her arrival, Frédérique Camilleri's CV did not fail to be noticed by Marseille observers.
She comes from Paris and was deputy director in the office of police prefect Didier Lallement, known for his divisive methods.
During her first speech for her installation on December 14, 2020, the young police chief sent a message of firmness, promising to fight against drug trafficking
“relentlessly, without qualms, building foot by foot. building, stairwell by stairwell.”
Three years later, the police claim the disappearance of 70 deal points in Marseille, while the number of deaths linked to drug banditry has never been so high in Bouches-du-Rhône.
In 2023, around fifty people lost their lives in homicides against a backdrop of turf war.
“No family of victims would understand that we are explaining to them that the action of the prefect is superb when we have just faced the deadliest year,”
Tance Hassen Hammou, EELV spokesperson in Paca and founder of collective Too young to die
.
The truth is that today, Camilleri or not, we are in a system of urban guerrilla warfare by people who feel stronger than the police.”
Against “settling of scores”
“The fact of stamping out drug trafficking like this bothers them,”
defends Rudy Manna, national spokesperson for Alliance.
It still worked at a minimum, because we are well aware that it is not possible to break up all the Marseille drug networks.”
“There have been results in the fight against drug trafficking,”
confirms the deputy mayor of Marseille in charge of security Yannick Ohanessian
.
All we have to do is look at a certain number of territories which seemed to be lost as some wanted to suggest.
When you look at the Paternal, or the Castellane, today, action has been taken.”
Also read “We live again”: in Marseille, the inhabitants of La Paternelle freed from the influence of drug trafficking
When Frédérique Camilleri was appointed three years ago, Yannick Ohanessian was cautious, loudly demanding new police officers for Marseille, and in particular to fight drug trafficking.
Three years later, it’s done.
A first in the Old Port for a long time.
“She was really a good relay between the local and the ministry, between the municipality and the Minister of the Interior and she was able to support our requests,”
recognizes Yannick Ohanessian.
This was obviously proven by the arrivals of a CRS company stationed in Marseille.
It's not nothing."
In terms of drug trafficking, the prefect has also waged another war.
A battle of words that Frédérique Camilleri quickly led in order to eliminate the term
“settling of scores”
which, according to her, had no meaning.
“She changed the semantics,”
welcomes the Secretary of State in charge of city policy, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, close to Frédérique Camilleri.
She said that we should no longer call it settling scores, because we are killing people.
These are assassinations.
It matters because the families of the victims who are personally affected most of the time have nothing to do with it.”
“I believe that she will have really left her mark on Marseille,”
greets Yannick Ohanessian.
Marseille is a unique city.
Everyone who arrives here understands that in this city you have to do things differently.
And there are plenty of people who broke their teeth and didn't know how to do it.
There, for once, the prefect, perhaps thanks to her history, her origins, her roots, understood Marseille better.
And that really matters.
I think you can't get here without taking a little time to get to know the city."
Frédérique Camilleri was in fact born in Lebanon, in the middle of the civil war, and grew up in Beirut.
Mediterranean roots that she easily claims.
Chain seizures
“We still had to understand the Marseille context,”
adds Rudy Manna.
It remains an unusual city.
I would say that over the years, she has softened while being authoritarian and harsh at times.”
“Frédérique Camilleri was able to get closer to the field and quickly get into the swing of things, which means that today, the view we have of her is very positive,”
says Bruno Bartocetti, national secretary for the southern zone of the union. SGP Police Unit.
“We must also understand that here, we can try to forecast Marseille twenty or thirty years from now, but that the emergencies are such that they immediately bring you back to a form of everyday reality,”
analyzes Yannick Ohanessian .
You don't have time to sit down and take a blank sheet of paper and think about the Marseille you want in the future.
The second you think about that, you have riots, a shooting, a Kalashnikov blast or women being attacked.
And when it's not that, it's very unfortunately buildings that collapse.
And it never ends.”
»
Also read “The impression that it will be endless”: in Marseille, the victims of the rue de Tivoli caught in the grip of insurance companies
Frédérique Camilleri's time at the head of the police headquarters was indeed punctuated by numerous crises.
First there was the La Plaine carnival in 2021, an undeclared event which was held in full confinement, provoking a national controversy.
The police chief also found herself confronted last summer, and for the first time in the history of Marseille, with major riots in the city center, during which several investigations targeted police officers during their interventions. were opened.
A man actually died during these events.
“I am at the head of these police officers and these gendarmes, and therefore, of course, I am necessarily fully accountable for their balance sheet,”
Frédérique Camilleri recently admitted in a rare exercise of contrition.
More recently, violent clashes broke out between Lyon and Marseille supporters, while the police chief seemed calm about the match being held after the organization of a meeting between supporters.
“In three years, she has not been spared,”
recalls Rudy Manna
.
In recent months, there has also been the visit of the Pope and the Rugby World Cup.”
Major events whose management was apparently praised by the government, justifying its promotion to Essonne.
The police chief will definitely leave Marseille this Thursday, before the official arrival of her successor, Pierre-Edouard Colliex.