Didier Lallement, the prefect of police (PP) of Paris received a fan after his little "academic" statement linking hospitalization and non-confinement. "Your comments are unacceptable, you must apologize very quickly," allegedly launched the Minister of the Interior by telephone to the senior official. Known himself for sometimes harshly beating his collaborators, the setbacks of the senior official hardly inspire compassion within the police hierarchy.
Christophe Castaner heard the derailment of the Paris police prefect live. “You don't need to be penalized to understand that those who are hospitalized today, who are found in intensive care units, are those who at the start of confinement did not respect it. There is a very simple correlation ”, affirmed Didier Lallement, this Friday morning, on BFMTV.
The senior official who likes to wear the uniform on the street was present in the early morning, Porte d'Orléans, in Paris, for a police operation to prevent departures as part of the spring vacation period. "This correlation took everyone by surprise," reports an advisor, Place Beauvau. Above all, it shocked the doctors for whom the scientific link could not be established.
"He only had to do that to try to put out the fire"
"It is unacceptable to say such things that are not based on any scientific or epidemiological element and stigmatize people who are victims of a serious and suffering illness," says Jean-Daniel Lelièvre, epidemiologist at the Mondor Biomedical Research Institute. This Friday evening, more than 6,600 patients infected with the coronavirus were in intensive care throughout France. “Those who are in the shifts are those who were unlucky enough to be infected. Among them, people who followed the instructions as best as possible, and others who may have been less disciplined, "says Marie-Paule Kieny, director of research at Inserm and former vice-president of WHO. .
Faced with the surge of anger, Didier Lallement apologized, just three hours after having said these words in a press release. "He only had to do that to try to put out the fire," comments a former communicator from Place Beauvau. The PP cabinet first wrote a press release. "His intention was not to establish a direct link between non-compliance with health instructions and the presence of patients in intensive care." Then followed a press conference by the prefect in person, in the middle of the afternoon: “I know I have struck many people who have relatives in intensive care, in the hospital, or who have lost one theirs. No one should feel guilty for living in such a situation, such a drama, ”said the prefect.
His resignation requested
Didier Lallement's mea-culpa has been heard by some caregivers but others continue to demand his resignation. This is the second time that the prefect of police, known for his authoritarianism, comes out of the nails. On Saturday, November 16, 2019, the prefect had answered dryly to a sixty-something woman who asked him why he couldn't stop the "black blocks": "Mouais. Mouais […] We are not in the same camp Madame ”. For this gap, which had caused discomfort to the Elysee, the prefect had not been cropped.
Appointed to restore order, in the midst of the Yellow Vests crisis, the prefect of police perfectly fulfilled this mission. But, today, at Place Beauvau, some people criticize him for not having adapted to the new situation: "Of course, respect for confinement is important, but you also have to be able to show humanity in this period", observes a high official. However, the time is not for eviction or forced resignation. “We are not going to fire the Paris police prefect in times of extreme crisis, and above all we should have a replacement on hand. But there will be no third gap, it can not add a crisis to the crisis, "says a connoisseur of the Ministry of the Interior.
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VIDEO. For the prefect Lallement, "the patients in intensive care did not respect confinement"
