In five years, three Ministers of the Interior have succeeded Place Beauvau. Gérard Collomb, Christophe Castaner and Gérald Darmanin. A local baron from Lyon, first, ex-PS, rewarded by the president for his support throughout the campaign. A relative of Emmanuel Macron, then, a little clumsy and neophyte in terms of security. Finally, an ex-LR, often compared to Nicolas Sarkozy and a follower of sound bites. Appointments that reflect the growing importance given by the Head of State to the sovereign: accused for a time of having neglected security issues, Emmanuel Macron now intends to pamper the police who never miss the opportunity to remind him of their mobilization during the demonstrations of the “yellow vests” in 2019.
Gérard Collomb, a minister with questionable credibility
In 2017, when Emmanuel Macron was elected, one of the main concerns of the French remained terrorism. Two years after the attacks that bloodied Paris and Saint-Denis, Gérard Collomb is responsible for bringing a new piece of legislation aimed at getting the country out of the state of emergency. But because of his low involvement in several cases, Gérard Collomb does not enjoy strong consideration from the police world. “He had the municipal police of Lyon as a point of reference. The national police are not the same thing, not the same job even if the two forces are complementary, ”explains the general secretary of the Alliance union, Fabien Vanhemelryck. And to insist: “I am not sure that he had the ambitions he needed to carry out the mission entrusted to him. He did not leave a lasting memory. »
The credibility of the former mayor of Lyon takes a hit when he stumbles over almost every word when answering questions from the Law Commission on the Benalla affair, this young project manager filmed questioning and hitting demonstrators during the demonstration on May 1, 2018. Facing the deputies, he passes for a minister who knows nothing or, at least, who is hidden from things even though the Macron government is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. Finally, he presented his resignation from the government to Emmanuel Macron on October 1, 2018.
Christophe Castaner in the turmoil of “yellow vests”
To replace him, Macron chooses a tandem: Christophe Castaner and Laurent Nuñez. The first is one of his relatives, the second an expert in security issues, former director of the DGSI. Quickly, the executive is confronted with the mobilization of thousands of people every Saturday who occupy the roundabouts of the country, dressed in fluorescent yellow chasubles. The cries of anger from a part of the French who feel sidelined, quickly follow the weekly violence of the thugs. The period is complicated: some blame the minister for the injuries caused to the demonstrators by the police, others for the violence of the thugs.
The erosion of the movement of “yellow vests” does not mean the end of the troubles for Christophe Castaner. A few months after signing a memorandum of understanding with the three main police unions on a salary increase, the Beauvau tenant is alienating the same organizations. His wrong? Having announced the abandonment of the “strangling” key and then the suspension of police officers in the event of “proven suspicion” of racism. The police are mobilizing every week, forcing the minister to resign. “We cannot support the police and have murderous sentences towards them as he had. He was a little ambiguous, one day he supported and the next day he let go. His ideology sometimes prevailed over his role as minister, ”says Fabien Vanhemelryck.
A minister who pleases the police unions
The style of his successor, Gérald Darmanin, appeals more internally. Externally, much less: his image is marked as soon as he arrives at Place Beauvau by the rape investigation of which he is the subject (a dismissal of the case was requested by the prosecution in January 2022). His appointment nevertheless signals a paradigm shift in the government’s security policy. Make way for action, for media trips to the field, for press releases welcoming the slightest drug seizure. It is the return of the politics of figures, dear to his mentor, Nicolas Sarkozy. The minister wants to “stop the enslavement of a certain part of society”, carries a bill against separatism with Marlène Schiappa, boasts of asking the butchers of Tourcoing – the city of which he was mayor – their opinion on delinquency issues.
The police unions appreciate his commented presence at their demonstration aimed at denouncing a supposed laxity of justice. Over the course of his decisions, the Minister brushes them in the right direction: new cars, new uniforms, announces the creation of 200 new gendarmerie brigades, rapid support forces of the CRS, doubling of the police presence in the streets, establishment of a fixed criminal fine to punish weed smokers, organization of a Beauvau security meeting, etc.
The budget of the Ministry of the Interior is also increasing considerably: an additional 3.5 billion euros in five years, 15 billion promised for the next five years to modernize the police and gendarmerie. “We can’t say that things haven’t changed in the last 20 months”, also greets Grégory Joron, secretary general of the SGP-Police Unit.
The blues of the judicial police
If the minister seems to be unanimous with the cops in blue, the oils of the judicial police, they are wary. In question: the announcement of a reform providing for the creation of departmental directorates of the national police (DDPN) which would bring together under a single command public security, territorial intelligence (the former “RG”), the border police and the federal police.
“It’s a decision as important as that taken by Clemenceau… But in the opposite direction”, chokes a commissioner. And to insist: “It is an erroneous political vision. We want to put all the marbles in the daily police. In short, the sleuths of the judicial police, who will be placed under the control of the prefect, legitimately fear for the independence of their investigations.
Will Gérald Darmanin stay in Place Beauvau? In any case, it is rumored that he could keep his wallet. But other names are circulating to succeed him, such as that of the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi. When Christophe Castaner left, Jean-Michel Blanquer, the Minister of Education, had expressed his interest in this post. “You need consistency in this kind of ministry, it can only pay off,” pleads Grégory Joron. Who already warns the next tenant of Place Beauvau: “He will have to understand how to work with the police unions because it is special, it is better to dialogue with us than to be in opposition. »