Barely three months after its opening, the new Bordeaux-Gradignan prison is already under fire from critics

Le Figaro Bordeaux

New building, old problems. The Bordeaux-Gradignan penitentiary center (Gironde) is infamous. In 2022, the general inspector of places of deprivation of liberty declared that the conditions of detention there were “particularly unworthy“, and we could almost say the same about the working conditions of the staff, who are confronted with numerous attacks (throwing excrement, kicking and punching, insults, etc.). Last week, three supervisors were attacked. The new building inaugurated three months ago was supposed to calm the situation.

Expected for 20 years, the construction of this building, where around 280 prisoners were already transferred in May, was more than necessary to create new detention places and compensate for the dilapidated state of the prison. A second building is also under construction, with delivery scheduled for 2026. At that date, the Gradignan penitentiary centre will have 680 places, around 140 more than today but less than the number of prisoners regularly reached, the establishment facing, like many others, severe prison overcrowding.

“The administration sold us the new penitentiary center as one of the solutions to this overpopulation, but it only improved things partially”explains Francis Vandenschrick, from the FO Pénitentiaire union, deploring recurring deliveries of drugs by drone. 300 grams were seized on the weekend of August 24-25 and 200 grams at the beginning of last week. “Contrary to what was promised, namely that there would be fewer mattresses on the floor, there are currently 140, a situation that is almost unprecedented in the establishment”adds Ronan Roudaut, local secretary of UFAP UNSa Bordeaux Gradignan.

Violence of “distressing banality”

The prison administration, however, points out that, since 2018, “The Ministry of Justice is rolling out the most ambitious real estate program undertaken in thirty years”which provides “the net creation of 15,000 additional prison places in France by 2027». To combat prison overcrowding, “an active policy of orientation of detainees within detention centres and establishments” has also been put in place. The administration also aims to strengthen the security of detention centers, because “Prison overcrowding can be a factor in violence between prisoners and towards prison staff”.

“In terms of security, we have never experienced such a situation”testifies Ronan Roudaut of UFAP, noting “major security concerns about the new structure”with jumble “poorly designed windows”cut bars and heavy traffic “of combat and diving daggers”. “There is zero security even though it is a new establishment”the prison officer complains. As for the umpteenth attack on his colleagues, he regrets that this violence is “have become distressingly commonplace”.

“We were right to think that the building would be equipped with telephone jammers and anti-drone devices, but no.”Ronan Roudaut further mocks. The Ministry of Justice retorts that “The fight against illicit telephone communications by prisoners is a constant commitment of the prison administration”with a budget of more than 100 million dedicated to jammers since 2018. In 2023, no fewer than 53,000 phones and accessories were seized in prison. By 2025, the number of establishments equipped with jammers should increase from 18 to 38 and those equipped with anti-drone devices from 38 to 90. Gradignan prison has been designated as a priority establishment to benefit from these measures.

A night intrusion into the construction site

In addition to overcrowding, security problems and drugs, the construction site of the new Gradignan prison has also been the scene of a strange night-time event, notes Ronan Roudaut. “Unidentified individuals came to use the construction machinery”explains the union leader. “We are astonished to see that the administration did not think of securing the platforms and excavators”. According to him, “mounds of earth” created during the construction were also present near the surrounding walls, which means that “Malicious individuals only have to approach and make projections”.

The prison administration specifies in this regard that:“A mound facilitating projections has been razed” and remembers that “Access to the site is secured thanks to a security and video protection system”. Another source close to the case confirms, however, that there was indeed a night-time intrusion on the prison construction site. It was not a prisoner but a worker from the company in charge of the work, who clearly came to collect something at night, without warning the construction site surveillance body…