Created 40 years ago with only five officers, the Angers municipal police force today has 68, integrated into the Security and Prevention Department where 104 people work. Over the years, their missions have evolved.
The municipal police has 68 agents in Angers – © Angers.Villactu.fr
Since 1984, municipal police officers have roamed the streets of Angers and intervened in all four corners of the city. In 40 years, their number, their missions, and their equipment have evolved significantly.
The first team from the security service of the city of Angers was made up of five agents. Today there are 104 working within the Security and Prevention Department, including 68 municipal agents. A figure which has increased by 30% over the last ten years. “ There is still a need to strengthen the workforce », Estimates Jeanne Behre-Robinson, Deputy for Safety and Prevention.
Over the years, the organization has expanded, with the establishment of a “contact and proximity” team, a “general surveillance” team, dog and equestrian teams, and a night team created in 2015. The latter allows the municipal police to be active 24/7. During the holiday period, the municipal police are also mobilized on Sundays.
The police strengthen their presence during the end-of-year holidays – © Angers.Villactu.fr
Police officers soon to be armed?
In forty years, municipal police officers have benefited from new equipment. In addition to the telescopic baton and tear gas spray, municipal police officers have had an electric pulse gun since 2016 and a defensive bullet launcher (LBD) since 2021.
At the end of November, the mayor of Angers, Christophe Béchu, indicated that arming the municipal police was no longer a “taboo question”.
« There is no taboo on the question of arming the municipal police. When I see the degree of violence in society, the question must be asked. This will be a subject for next year which will require social dialogue “, he announced.
Increasing incivility
In 2024, municipal police officers carried out nearly 10,000 interventions, an increase of 9% over one year. The agents mainly intervene for inconvenient parking, public order disturbances, nuisances and incivility, but also carry out important local work.
According to Jeanne Behre-Robinson, behaviors have evolved since the health crisis. “ The relationship with public space has changed. Covid has reinforced individualism “. An observation shared by Mathieu Berthelot, director of the Security and Prevention department of the city of Angers: “ There is a proliferation of incivility, whether in the city center or in the neighborhoods, particularly with rodeos which have taken on another scale. »
Jeanne Behre-Robinson is deputy mayor in charge of Security and Prevention – © Angers.Villactu.fr
Proximity at the heart of missions
The municipal police do not have the same missions as the national police. If the two work together on a daily basis, municipal police officers do not have the right to carry out identity checks, search vehicles, maintain order or investigate. “ Although the missions should not be the same, we are calling for a certain number of changes. The police are in public spaces and therefore potentially in contact with people who can be dangerous. As such, they must have the right tools. It must be remembered that municipal police officers were the first to intervene on rue Parcheminerie when a man was killed by gunfire or on the Cœur de Maine esplanade during the tragedy of 2022 », confides Jeanne Behre-Robinson.
Proximity remains at the heart of their missions, even more so since the creation in 2021 of the contact and proximity brigade. Exchanges with residents and city stakeholders, equestrian brigade and interventions in schools are all ways to build relationships and provide information.
« The intervention of the municipal police is not just repression. Anticipation and prevention are facilitated by this proximity that we can have », adds Mathieu Berthelot.
Municipal police officers travel by bicycle to facilitate exchanges – © Angers.Villactu.fr
The lower part of the city center under close surveillance
Last September, a local delinquency treatment group (GLTD) was set up in the lower part of the city center of Angers, encompassing rue de la Roë, rue Thiers, rue Boisnet, rue Parcheminerie, but also the squares Molière, Imbach and Hérault.
This system brings together the public prosecutor, the prefecture, the national police, customs, but also the City with its municipal police. Lasting six months, renewable once, the GLTD aims to strengthen controls in this part of the city subject to drug trafficking, incivility and violence.
On the side of the municipal police, the presence was clearly increased. “There are at least three agents who roam the hyper-center at all times. Our desire is to occupy the land as much as possible. The situation has improved at Place Molière after long-term work », Indicates Mathieu Berthelot.
By Sylvain Réault.
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