“Does it take a death to feel remorse?” : municipal police officers demonstrate in front of Bordeaux town hall

This Friday, June 28, 2024, around a hundred municipal police officers demonstrate in front of Bordeaux town hall, yellow vests on their shoulders, placards in their hands: “I am a target”, “We are chickens, not pigeons”, “Does it take a dead person to feel remorse?”

On strike, they made their discontent and their main demand heard with loud whistles: to be equipped with firearms.

The strike and the examination of their request

Originally, the mayor of Bordeaux Pierre Hurmic is against the idea of ​​equipping its police officers with lethal weapons, but is currently examining their request. He could therefore change his mind, but for the time being the city hall assures Bordeaux news not having communicated no deadline to make its decision.

However, the municipal police told us that the decision was due to be made at the beginning of July and that it was postponed to September because of the legislative elections. Enough to frustrate municipal agents.

“Can you imagine the national police without weapons? It’s the same “

According to Jérôme Desorthes, spokesperson for municipal police officers and CGT elected official, “the officers are worried about their activity, their family, their health”. He explains that Bordeaux has “become the second most insecure city of France, and the police live it every day.”

So they are asking for lethal weapons, because their equipment “does not allow them to respond to all situations.” But the mayor is worried that this will push them to replace the role of national police officers.

“That’s already the case,” replies Jérôme Desorthes. “There is a disengagement of the national police and over time the prerogatives of the municipal police are increasing. Do you see the national police without weapons? Do you think they don’t need them? Well, it’s the same for us.”

According to him, the police also regret the dichotomy between the political ideology of the town hall and the reality on the ground, “knowing that the mayor is responsible for the health of his agents”.

A political choice “synonymous with risk”

For the spokesperson for the municipal police, the delay in announcing the mayor’s decision “is only linked to a national political strategy exogenous to the town hall”. He specifies that the mayor would not want to pronounce on the subject before the first round of the Legislative elections, nor during the period between the two rounds.

“So we thought it would be postponed until the day after the second round,” emphasizes Jérôme Desorthes, “but we were told not before September.” Which means that municipal agents will spend the summer equipped with their conventional weapons (non-lethal therefore), “whether for Bordeaux wine festival or for the Olympic Games.”

“It is a political choice which exposes agents to risk”, Jérôme finishes. Behind him, the whistles continue to sound and probably echo into the mayor’s office. It is impossible, for the moment, to know if he will stick to his positions or if he will give in to the demands of his municipal police officers.

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