Alliance, Synergie and UNSA, the main police unions, asked Gérald Darmanin on Saturday for measures “appeasement” in the face of protest and indignation aroused by the reform of the judicial police (PJ) and the dismissal of the head of the southern zone of the PJ. In an interview at ParisianSunday, October 9, the Minister of the Interior defends this very controversial reform, which he presents as “courageous, essential and difficult”.
Reform “upsets habits and it is normal that it arouses disputes, but certain limits must not be crossed”he adds, denouncing the “shocking images” of the demonstration of the investigators in Marseilles during the visit of the director general of the national police (DGPN).
Sense of calm
Thursday, the DGPN, Frédéric Veaux, who came to Marseille to present his reform, had to go through a “hedge of dishonor” formed by some two hundred investigators opposed to the project.
The next day, Eric Arella, respected boss of the PJ in the south of France, was sacked. “The general manager has the choice of his collaborators. The bond of trust between [lui et le DGPN] was broken”says the Minister in The Parisianwithout further comment on this eviction. ” It is obvious “ that some protesters “could be liable for punishment”continues Gérald Darmanin, specifying however that he asked the central director of the PJ, Jérome Bonet, “to have a sense of peace”.
On the merits of the reform, the Minister does not initiate change, but repeats that“no PJ policeman will do anything other than what he was doing today”. The reform project plans to place all the police services – intelligence, public security, border police and PJ – under the authority of a single departmental director of the national police, answerable to the prefect. “In a word, it is a question of stopping working in silos at the national and territorial level”insists the Minister, who adds: “Today’s system is dated and we see that, for crimes and violence against people, the clearance rates are down. It’s not the police who do their job badly: they are badly organized. »
Implementation in 2023
Opponents of the project denounce the risk of a « leveling [par] the bottom “ of the PJ and a reinforcement of the weight of the prefect in the investigations. There won’t be “no abolition of staff, no abolition of central office, no abolition of service or local branch”adds Gérald Darmanin, assuring that this decision is a “amendment of the draft of the [direction générale de la police nationale] ».
As he said on Friday before the union of internal security executives, the minister explained that he had “ordered an audit”with which the General Inspectorate of Justice must be associated and which “will be delivered mid-December”. “We will discuss from there with the trade unions to amend the reform according to the remarks for an implementation in 2023”adds Mr. Darmanin, without giving a more precise date.