In an interview with Le Parisien - Today in France, the Paris public prosecutor "calls for everyone's vigilance" in the face of "a strong resumption of violent thefts", especially in public transport.
To respond to this increase in delinquency since this summer, Rémi Heitz underlines “a hardening of penal policy, with systematic referrals of suspects”.
Several indicators show a hardening of delinquency in Paris.
Is this a legal reality?
REMY HEITZ.
Yes.
This has resulted in particular since the summer in a strong resumption of thefts with violence, sometimes even with knives.
During confinement, delinquency had marked a sharp decline from 70 to 80%.
This has destabilized certain groups, often linked to drug trafficking.
Since the summer, we have noticed a desire to reappropriate territories, which is also expressed by brawls, particularly in the north-east of Paris, in connection with drug trafficking or street sales.
We are also seeing an increase in burglaries, for example in the 7th, 8th and 16th arrondissements.
Who are the victims of robberies?
Since there are hardly any more tourists, who were privileged targets of pickpockets, there is a report on Parisians and Ile-de-France residents, who live, work in Paris and use public transport.
Especially in stations, they are targeted, for their watch, their chain or any object perceived as having value.
Without giving in to psychosis, in this complicated sanitary period for all, I appeal to everyone's vigilance.
A local delinquency treatment group dedicated to the fight against theft in transport was nevertheless created in January 2020 ...
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Yes, it is a tool that allows us to unite our resources, with the RATP, SNCF, elected officials, the police, to be more efficient on a targeted theme, as was done for crack in 2018 or brawls in 2017. This GLTD mainly concerns pick-pocketing, it met once before confinement and resumed in September.
It aims to adapt to current challenges.
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What response are you able to provide in the short term?
We are responding with a hardening of penal policy, with systematic referrals of suspects.
Immediate court judgments and committal warrants are on the rise.
The number of detainees at the Health Remand Center has also returned to the level before confinement, with 790 detainees.
During confinement, it had fallen by nearly 30%, due to the drop in delinquency and early releases, to reach 595 inmates at the end of April.
We are dedicated to providing quick answers for blatant crimes and more in depth, with investigations to dismantle networks.
For example, for drug trafficking, 64 investigations recently involved 109 people, of whom 57 were imprisoned.
In this respect, it is necessary to underline a police clearance rate generally on the rise.
And at the same time, “on the surface”, 259 cannabis users were fined with the new fixed tort fine (AFD) in September.
It is one more tool.
Who are the perpetrators of assaults or thefts?
Young adults, drug addicts and more minors.
The proportion of minors in personal attacks rose from 18.7% in the third quarter of 2019 to 22.2% in the third quarter of 2020. There are real minors, who fall under the protection of children, and 'others who are sometimes over 20 years old, up to 30 years old, but seek to benefit from the protection of the ordinance of February 2, 1945. Three-quarters of the 2,175 minors referred since the beginning of the year are not minors. accompanied.
But let's not mix it up: not all unaccompanied foreign minors are delinquents and all delinquents are not minors.
How do you know that a suspect is not a minor?
Thanks to international police cooperation.
For a year, we have put in place with certain countries, including Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, means to determine the age and marital status of those arrested.
We sometimes manage to find antecedents in their country of origin.
In one year, out of more than 500 declared minors, we were able to identify 135, of which 122 were adults.
It takes a little time because you have to cross data from different files.
But that means that at their next arraignment for an offense, they will be referred and tried in immediate appearance.
There is no impunity and we are doing everything we can to thwart the strategy of those who lie about their identity by falsely taking advantage of the minority.
So you don't count on bone age exams?
No, because they are often imprecise.
What response do you envisage in the event of non-compliance with the curfew?
There will inevitably be legal proceedings, the contours of which we are currently defining. During confinement, I had chosen to resort to TIG
(Editor's note: community service)
for repeat offenders, since this concerned a rather young population and having difficulty in disciplining themselves. We have set up one-day educational courses for 209 adults and 79 minors, in groups, where caregivers intervened in particular to explain their daily lives. At the beginning of September, 1,572 people had been fined for not wearing a mask, mainly in transport, with a fine of 135 euros. In the health crisis we are going through, we must combine firmness and education.
