between violence and the law of silence, gangs of young people in the crosshairs of public authorities

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“We just heard about it, but we didn’t see it.” In front Dardenne high school in Vanves (Hauts-de-Seine), Leila, like other comrades, does not know much about the violence which broke out in October in front of the establishment. Since the beginning of the month, a series of brawls caused trouble in several high schools in the departmentwith several injuries to report.

Four students from the Jacques-Monod high school in Clamart were beaten up in front of the establishment in this context on October 7. Other attacks took place in the following weeks. On October 29, five young people from Vanves and Malakoff were arrested. This violence is not new. We take stock of this phenomenon.

Rivalries dating back several years

These rivalries between different communes of Paris are not new. According to the cell band of the Paris Police Prefecture, responsible for identifying these often very young groups, the tensions between Vanves and neighboring municipalities would have been brought to their attention “as early as 2020”. “It is a rivalry of municipalitieswithout an identified and constituted group, based on a feeling of belonging to a constituency and not to a defined neighborhood or sector,” explains a police source.

These gangs operate in a limited area, where we find the 14th arrondissement of Paris, but also Châtillon, Clamart and Issy-les-Moulineaux. “The rallying points of this violence are often around schools. In recent times, we have noticed that the phenomenon is affecting younger and younger people,” analyzes Bernard Gauducheaumayor of Vanves.

The law of silence

If the events that occurred in October could have increased the violence a notch, they remain less frequent than in other neighborhoods. The gang unit thus identified 7 episodes of brawls between 2020 and 2024, or barely two per year. For comparison, the gangs of the cities of Riquet-Stalingrad and Cambrai, whose rivalries have been fatal on several occasions, have committed at least seven acts of violence for the year 2023.

As for the causes of these acts, vagueness reigns. “It is very difficult to identify the reason for this violence, because the law of silence reigns, both among the perpetrators and the victims. For example, we have parents who are told to file a complaint, but they don’t want to,” the mayor of Vanves told us. Insults, drug trafficking or stories about girls… There are many hypotheses, but they never become certainties.

Measures put in place by the municipality

To overcome this phenomenon, measures have been put in place over the years by the municipality, as the city councilor declares: “The town hall has positioned itself as an educational, and non-coercive, actor. Groups of educators ensure permanent vigilance in sensitive areas. Between May and October, we also have street mediators. These are local agents who circulate at late hours to places where we know that there are gang gatherings.”

The municipality has also created a network with the various stakeholders in the municipality. “We have the socio-cultural center which welcomes people in difficulty, but we are also in contact with the two high schools in the town and the national police,” explains Bernard Gauducheau.

A new group set up

These links have been extended and strengthened since the end of October with the creation of a local delinquency treatment group (GLTD) by the Nanterre public prosecutor's office. The latter, temporary, aims to bring together all the actors, ranging from municipalities to the police and educational actors: “We have, for example, been put in touch with the Judicial protection of youth et prison servicesbecause some of the young people involved are already known to the justice system. The challenge of this group is to be able to intervene as early as possible,” explains the councilor of Vanves.

After the wave of arrests at the end of October, tension seems to have fallen in the south of Hauts-de-Seine. For Bernard Gauducheau, recent events should not create so much concern: “Of the 30,000 inhabitants of the commune, there are a dozen individuals at risk. This is not the Bronx of the 60s at all! “.

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