The police are understaffed in the Channel, the need for reinforcements is urgent

The situation of workforce of police is strongly degraded for months in Saint-Lô and Coutances (Manche), despite discussions within joint departmental and union bodies.

Alarm bell

Cyrille Postaire, departmental secretary of the SGP Police Force Ouvrière Unit union, once again wanted to draw the line alarm bell.

“Two colleagues will arrive on 1^is March in Saint-Lô, but that is insufficient facing the retirements and to mutations since 2023. A need for nine personnel for public roads and one for investigation has been expressed, but the reinforcements are far from sufficient. »

What about Cherbourg?

The same is true at the Coutances police station which requested four additional civil servants for public roads.

“In Cherbourg, 23 civil servants are needed. The PAF [NDLR : police aux frontières] also made a request for 22 additional staff to strengthen dematerialized controls at the port within the framework of the European Entry / exit system law. »

Impacted missions

According to Cyrille Postaire, “the lack of staff has a impact on carrying out general service and anti-delinquency missions. For example, within the Saint-Lô constituency since October 2024, twenty interventions could not be carried out (disruptors, neighborhood disputes, disturbances, assistance to anyone, brawls, etc.) because the only police rescue crew was already engaged on another mission. »

The compressed 4/2 cycle is judged exhausting by the Saint-Lois and Coutançais workforce, leading to “ unsafe interventionsincessant reminders and accumulated fatigue.”

Tested at the Cherbourg police station since October 2015, the so-called strong Friday time cycle allows police officers to benefit from every other weekend of rest.

It is popular with all our colleagues who do not plan to return to the 4/2 cycle which gives us one weekend in six of rest. This has a direct impact on the health of the workforce, with frequent sick leave. A psychosocial risks monitoring unit will meet at the prefecture at the end of January. We put on the agenda the degraded situation in the two constituencies of Coutances and Saint-Lô. We really have indicators, warning signals which tell us that there is real unease, even discomfort among our colleagues.

The trade unionist also mentions a limited budget.

“At the end of 2024, the budget was tight, and at the beginning of 2025, budget cuts are feared, affecting the purchase of essential equipment. For example, we have been fighting for several months to have new ergonomic chairs that hold up for colleagues in the investigation services. We recovered eleven of them, second-hand seats, which were distributed to the different constituencies. »

Improvements have been noted in the rolling stock which has been renewed, but problems persist with certain vehicles.

The SGP Police FO Unit union reserves the right to go further in their actions if the Manche police officers are not heard.

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