The Green mayor of Grenoble, Éric Piolle, spoke on RMC-BFMTV on Tuesday, September 10, following the murder of a municipal employee in Grenoble on Sunday.
Lilian Dejean, a 49-year-old cleaning agent, was on duty early Sunday morning on Boulevard Jean-Pain in the city centre of Grenoble when, witnessing a traffic accident, he tried to prevent the perpetrator from fleeing.
The latter then took out a weapon and shot the officer twice before fleeing, abandoning his wrecked car. Hit by two bullets in the chest, Lilian Dejean died shortly afterwards.
“In-depth work” on insecurity
“No one can see this insecurity rising in France,” declared Éric Piolle, acknowledging that “there is obviously a problem in Grenoble.” The city and its metropolitan area have experienced several episodes of gun violence in recent weeks. However, the elected official is not in favor of arming the municipal police, a direction taken by some municipalities in recent years.
“The municipal police are there for the public peace of the residents. They work in cooperation with the national police,” declared the green mayor on RMC-BFMTV.
“As an employer, I believe that arming our municipal police with firearms exposes them both to missions that are not theirs and to risks that I am not prepared to take for them,” continued Éric Piolle. However, he defended “in-depth work” on the issue of insecurity, particularly via the local security and crime prevention council, a consultation body.
Piolle against “the profusion of weapons”
Éric Piolle acknowledged that some municipal police officers “may have different convictions” on the issue of arming. He nevertheless specified that his decision followed several discussions: “I worked with them for a year to reach this conclusion.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to push for armament,” the mayor also said, calling instead for an end to the “profusion of weapons.”
Eric Piolle expressed his emotion after the death of Lilian Dejean and expressed his confidence in the police and the justice system so that the person suspected of killing him will be found quickly.
“A suspect in the murder of Lilian Dejean has been identified and is being actively sought,” announced the Grenoble public prosecutor, Eric Vaillant, on Monday evening, specifying that he is a man known to the justice system for various offences, including “theft, violence and drug trafficking,” he said.
- BFMTV.com
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