“Mayenne is neither Bouches-du-Rhône, nor Isère or even Ille-et-Vilaine. But if we don’t have deal points, the drugs circulate.” The observation is made by Colonel Xavier Dumolard de Bonviller, who has commanded the 400 soldiers of the Mayenne departmental gendarmerie group since September.
This Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the officer did so on the occasion of the ceremony of Sainte-Geneviève, the patroness of the gendarmes. After mass, he gave a speech in the Mayenne hall of the prefecture. “Sainte-Geneviève is a special time for the gendarme to put down his bag”he said.
This year will have been busy, notably with the securing of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 70 gendarmes from Mayenne were mobilized in a marching company for this extraordinary event. The colonel also lists farmers' demonstrations or rave parties “which come to punctuate our weekends”.
The number of fixed misdemeanor fines issued by the gendarmes jumped by 60%
On the business front, the department's gendarmes are faced with an increase in domestic violence. The number of police custody increased by 15% in one year. Just like the number of interventions which jumped by 7.8%. The roadmap of the new director general of the gendarmerie Hubert Bonneau and the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau is unlikely to reverse this trend.
An effort is required on narcotics. “This year, we dismantled nine trafficking operations, continues the colonel. We will keep the pressure on consumers and resellers.” Consumers are penalized by the fixed tort fine, €200, an increase of 60% for the department's gendarmes. Another priority, “everyday delinquency”. A struggle which, according to the officer, involves visibility. “Let’s be visible, let’s be present, asks Colonel Dumolard de Bonviller to his troops. Going towards is in the gendarme’s DNA.”
The prefect, Marie-Aimée Gaspari, praises the gendarmerie’s “proximity with the population”: “Presence on public roads is essential, it structures our actions. The study of flows shows that our delinquency comes largely from outside.
