With increasingly frequent interventions, the Alliance police des Hautes-Alpes union is asking for more staff in Gap, Briançon and Montgenèvre in order to respond to the region's problems.
Nearly 200 police officers cover the Hautes-Alpes territory, distributed between Gap, Briançon and Montgenèvre. Far from the mark for the Alliance police union, while interventions are increasing and night patrols are increasingly in demand.
“It happens that a single police patrol, therefore a single vehicle with two officers, is on duty for the entire town of Gap,” underlines the departmental secretary of the union Vincent Guillermin.
Since September, the situation has become critical in Gap and Briançon following the retirement of several agents and transfers to other departments. A bitter observation for the union.
In total, Alliance Police is requesting six additional police officers in Gap, two in Briançon and three in Montgenèvre. If the lack of personnel in the police is a national problem, regularly hammered out by the unions, the high-Alpine configuration requires rapid change to ensure the safety of people according to Vincent Guillermin.
“85 kilometers separate Gap from Briançon, it is therefore difficult for agents to request reinforcements in the event of an emergency. I also remind you that we have three issues, namely the fight against irregular immigration, the fight against narcotics and the fight against domestic violence.
Interventions on the rise in 2024
Since January 1, 3,500 interventions by the national police have taken place in the Hautes-Alpes.
An increase since last year, which proves the effectiveness of the police but also the real need to support agents through new recruitment, says Commissioner Jérémie Bosse-Platière, departmental director of the national police.
“We are more effective on public roads, because we have had a 5% drop in delinquency since the start of the year.”
Vincent Guillermin, like commissioner Jérémie Bosse-Platière, nevertheless agree on one observation. Both welcome the ongoing discussions with the Hautes-Alpes prefecture, which is pushing for the arrival of new agents in spring 2025.
