Is the judicial police going through the most serious crisis in its history since its creation in 1907? The zonal director of the PJ for the south of France, Eric Arella, was dismissed from his post on Friday, October 7, by the director general of the national police (DGPN), Frédéric Veaux.
This decision comes after the outburst of 200 investigators, the day before, during the visit of Mr. Veaux to the premises of the Bishopric, the headquarters of the Marseille police. In the corridors of the building, civil servants of all ranks, wearing their black vests where the words ” federal police “ appeared crossed out as a sign of mourning, organized a “hedge of dishonor” before the departure of the boss of the police, who came to convince of the merits of his reform: the placement of all the police forces under the authority of a single chief in each department.
The project has aroused strong resistance for several months from the judicial police, who see it as a real supervision of its action. A video that went viral on social mediashows Marseille civil servants, arms crossed, standing, in the corridors of the second floor of the Marseille police headquarters, while Mr. Veaux walks through the premises, his eyes black.
“Heads are falling”
“Such disloyalty is not acceptable”announced Friday, October 7 the general direction of the national police, which underlines that “the results in Marseille are also poor with record levels of homicides while the workforce has been considerably reinforced”. “Calves will not give anyone a present, heads are falling”appreciates a senior official of the judicial police, for whom “consultation, which was never really on the menu of the reform, is now totally abandoned”.
The brutal dismissal of Mr. Arella resonates in any case as a signal and a severe warning addressed to the mutineers of the PJ
The brutal dismissal of Mr. Arella resounds in any case like a signal and a severe warning addressed to the mutineers of the PJ. Until then considered to be close to Mr. Veaux, this senior official “loyal, faithful and competent”according to one of his peers, is replaced by Dominique Abbenanti, currently internal security attaché in Algiers and former deputy director of the technical and scientific police after having held several positions within the judicial police.
In a statement in an unusual tone, the National Association of the Judicial Police, created in mid-August to protest against the reform project, announced its intention to organize spontaneous rallies on Friday afternoon. “The PJ investigators are furious and are now organizing their support for their leaders! »specifies the press release, under the title « The DGPN declares war on the DCPJ [Direction centrale de la police judiciaire] ».
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