“We are one of the most peaceful departments in France,” explains Yvan Cordier. Haute-Loire ranks 75th in France for property damage with 1.5 incidents per 1,000 inhabitants when the national average is 2.4. Our department even ranks 86th for attacks on people with 0.7 incidents per 1,000 inhabitants (editor's note: compared to 1 incident on average in France). »
General delinquency actually fell by 8% in 2024 in Haute-Loire, for 8,700 incidents recorded. These good results do not push the State services to reduce their fight against this delinquency. On the contrary ! Among the means implemented, the prefecture supports and helps communities with the deployment of video protection cameras. The latter are increasingly numerous in the municipalities “and show their usefulness in resolving many cases”, estimates the prefect.
The security shield, supported by the Region, supposed to monitor entries and exits from the east of the department, should come into place in 2025. This unique system, presented last November to the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, will consist of around thirty cameras in twelve municipalities in Yssingelais. Objective: better control the routes entering the Haute-Loire in order to fight more effectively against theft and trafficking.
“It is a tool to dissuade and also to investigate with the aim of tracing the channels. »
And the prefect clarified: “we often deal with itinerant delinquency and this sector is the most affected; on car thefts for example, Yssingelais accounts for 56% of the department's incidents. It must be emphasized that the elucidation rate in Haute-Loire remains very high. »
This shield could even be used in the future in Brivadois on the side of the RN 102, to fight against potential traffic coming from Puy-de-Dôme. The prefect wishes to avoid the arrival and installation of networks, particularly drugs, in medium-sized towns, a trend on the rise in France.
On the roads
In addition to the cameras, the prefecture works in conjunction with law enforcement to implement new “modern IT tools. » A system on which the prefect intends to remain discreet but which will be put in place over the year. As in 2024, Operation Net Place, with the deployment of soldiers in the territory, will be renewed, focusing once again on the fight against drug trafficking.
In terms of road safety, the year 2024 will remain one of the least deadly in recent years with 11 victims. “There are eleven deaths too many but these good results are the result of the repressive action of the gendarmes and police officers.”
In total, 1,104 driving license withdrawals were made over twelve months: 407 for speed, 327 for narcotics and 193 for alcohol. » The share of driving under drugs has jumped in recent years: a share which can be explained by the evolution of screening techniques but also by a form of trivialization of the use of cannabis and “a form of democratization of cocaine,” recognizes the prefect.
Christophe Darne
France
