Incivility against municipal agents, this Val-d’Oise town hall is rethinking its reception of the public

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It’s an “exponential” problem, says Stephanie Von Euwmayor (Lr) of Pontoise (Val-d’Oise), who decided to initiate a reflection within the town hall services and more particularly for staff who welcome the public.

Employees are exposed to verbal violence “which could fall under the law”, explains the councilor, sensitive to the safety of his municipal agents.

“It is out of the question that City employees, serving the population, serve as punching bags for a bad-tempered public,” she declares.

“These are criticisms relating to the waiting time, the delivery of an administrative document, but also to the competence of the agents and even racist remarks,” she notes.

The City of Pontoise not only receives its citizens, but also an external public. The town hall issues passports and national identity cards.

The human resources department of Pontoise town hall is therefore working on this phenomenon of incivility.

“It happened that we found individuals in the mayor’s office”

Negotiation training will be offered.

“How to manage pressure in front of your interlocutor and not respond to provocations” is one of the examples of the approach that the town hall intends to take.

Camera at the counter

In the interest of dissuasion, the City has not ruled out equipping the counters with a camera.

“Like the pedestrian cameras available to municipal police officers,” explains Stéphanie Von Euw. It is the agents who will decide on this arrangement.

The idea is to prevent any slippage and to have evidence in the event of verbal or physical aggression.

At city hall, the reception agent already has an alert box, connected to the municipal police, who can intervene immediately.

The town hall has already been the subject of adjustments to avoid any intrusion.

Access to the floors is secure and locked doors prevent free access.

“It has happened that we find individuals in the mayor’s office,” underlines Stéphanie Von Euw, to support her approach to securing the public service and its staff.

“The City of Pontoise is one of the last to take such a measure,” observes the mayor who visited several town halls already equipped.

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