Mayor Jérôme Viaud (Les Républicains) explains that land is available for an expansion of the Grasse remand center, which like many others suffers from prison overcrowding.
The mayor of Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) said he was in favor of an expansion of the remand center located on the heights of the city, “a credible solution” as he explained on Tuesday in a column distributed to the press and in an interview with the regional daily Nice-Morning. “Not only does the municipality support the principle of an extension, but we also have the land rights to allow such a project to be carried out”explained Jérôme Viaud, Les Républicains mayor of the city of perfumes since 2014.
The councilor proposes doubling the size of this prison, already the largest in the department, with a capacity of 574 places. But like many penitentiary establishments in France, that of Grasse also suffers from prison overcrowding with, to date, more than 700 inmates.
If many local elected officials are reluctant to build a prison in their municipality, the Grasse mayor is “ready to take responsibility in this national effort”he insists. President Emmanuel Macron had, in 2017, expressed his desire to open 15,000 additional prison places in the country. In vain: only 4,500 places were created and the objective will not be achieved, the resigning Minister of Justice, Didier Migaud, admitted last month. The Minister of Justice then mentioned “land difficulties” et “opposition from elected officials”.
Local “political consensus”
Which is not the case for Grasse, according to Jérôme Viaud. In 2021, this project has even “is the subject of a broad political consensus”he recalls, evoking a letter co-signed by Charles-Ange Ginésy, the president of the departmental council, Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice and Éric Ciotti, Nice deputy, unaccustomed to extending courtesies to each other. “In light of these elements, we can only deplore the lack of decision-making on this central issue”then underlined the Grasse councilor.
“I hope that I will be heard and that the State will take this outstretched hand of a community where, often, we blame local elected officials by saying that there is no project coming out because no one do not agree”hammered Jérôme Viaud, also president of the association of mayors of the Alpes-Maritimes, in the local press. “Everything has been studied on the possibility of land rightshe clarified. When you look at a satellite map, above the remand center, the entire right side is available for that.”
According to him, this extension would solve the problem of the lack of prison places in the Alpes-Maritimes, while the Nice prison is also one of the most overcrowded in France (more than 500 prisoners for 309 places) and the unsanitary conditions of the establishment questions. The Nice public prosecutor, Damien Martinelli, had indicated an occupancy rate of 192% in the men’s quarter.
Additional means
Nevertheless, behind this proposal, the mayor of Grasse demands “strong guarantees from the State”. Understand, additional resources for your community. He first requests a reassessment of the amount of the overall operating allocation since he judges that his city “bears significant centrality loads” with a judicial court, a sub-prefecture and a hospital center. “This reality is not sufficiently recognized”thinks the elected official, who is calling for new magistrates and police officers.
“The question of strengthening our prison capacities is essential to enable a strong penal response that meets the challenges”summarizes Jérôme Viaud. “I welcome the responsible comments of the mayor of Grasse”reacted Christian Estrosi on his X account. “I have been proposing sites and solutions for years that are never suitable. We create impunity”added the mayor of the Riviera capital. In Nice, the construction of a new administrative detention center is also an issue at a time when there is a shortage of places and eight people managed to escape at the beginning of December.
Partition problem
“We cannot be against an extension, but not under any conditions”warns Laurent Marino, representative of the Force Ouvrière Prisoner union in the Alpes-Maritimes. For him, it would be necessary “first solve the problem in Nice” because an expansion of the Grasse remand center would lead to more judicial extractions. “To move detainees, you need staff and we suffer from a shortage”worries the trade unionist, recalling the attack in May on a van in Incarville, with two agents killed by an armed commando during the convoy.
In 2018, inmates also managed to destroy partitions within the Grasse prison to fight it out. The incident was repeated four times… Work was to be carried out this year but “this has not progressed”sighs Laurent Marino. “It’s good to propose but perhaps we should first resolve unresolved problems”he continues.
The prison population continued to increase in France in 2024 according to the latest data from the Chancellery. With nearly 79,000 prisoners counted for only 62,000 places, the average prison density stands at 127.3%.
