Several hundred police officers, mainly investigators from the judicial police, gathered calmly on Tuesday outside the headquarters of Paris and Marseille to protest against the current plan to reform the PJ.
In Paris, there were a little more than two hundred next to the Paris court where several magistrates and examining magistrates came to lend their support.
“We show our solidarity (…) What happened in Marseille where we dismissed a colleague who was known for his constructive character, who proposed amendments to the project (…) is incomprehensible”explained divisional commissioner Jean-Paul Maigret, national secretary of the independent union of police commissioners.
The boss of the PJ in the South zone – which goes from Perpignan to Nice -, Eric Arella, who among other things leads complex investigations against narcobanditry, was dismissed from his post on Friday the day after a silent demonstration by his troops against reform during the visit of the director general of the national police. This eviction caused general indignation in the police, but also in the judiciary where prosecutors and examining magistrates are also worried about the reform in progress.
Reports of operations were noted Monday in several PJ directions in France. In Nice, “a disengagement movement for an unlimited duration” has been observed since Monday by all the agents of the PJ, a policeman told AFP on Tuesday on condition of anonymity, specifying that “Only emergencies are covered”.
“We are not opposed to reforms, we are opposed to the way the reform is mounted”, specified Jean-Paul Maigret for whom the departmental division envisaged “does not rhyme with crime”.
The reform supported by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin plans to place all department-wide police services – intelligence, public security, border police and PJ – under the authority of a single Departmental Director of national police (DDPN), reporting to the prefect.
“The PJ was created because we quickly understood that the bandits acted throughout the territory”recalled Aurélie Duszynski, 41, a civil servant at the regional office of the PJ of Versailles brandishing a poster with the head of Clémenceau, founder of the “brigades du tigers” ancestors of the modern PJ.
Also in Marseille, some 200 PJ police officers gathered around noon at the entrance to the police station.
Some brandished posters proclaiming “I am Arella”, others the image of a coffin stamped with the letters PJ. Others again had a black line crossed out the initials of the judicial police on their jackets. They gravely intoned a Marseillaise before dispersing.
“The entire workforce of the PJ” does not accept the eviction of Eric Arella, explained to the press a department head. “We are here to support him and accompany him until he leaves”he added, emphasizing his dignity in this ordeal.
“The judicial police have never been against any idea of reform”, he specified. Colleagues of Eric Arella point out that he had proposed amendments to maintain the means and skills of this service specializing in complex investigations.
“We are asking for a protected budget. For the moment, the emphasis is on a global budget in the hands of the DDPN. We also consider that the notion of department is too narrow for certain missions, for organized crime in particular”, testified a framework of the PJ of Marseilles.