On June 27, 2023, police motorcyclists chase a Mercedes driven by Nahel, a minor without a license. The refusal to comply will end with a police officer shooting and the death of the young man. Riots will take place for several days in France. How this major event transformed the way of working and the state of mind of the police, one year later, France 3 Provence-Alpes asked them the question.
A vehicle check that turns into a tragedy, bereaved families, riots, media frenzy… what remains of all this a year later? The question has rarely been asked by the police. A few days before the Olympics, where they will be mobilized in large numbers to maintain order, France 3 Provence-Alpes was interested in their state of mind and how the death of Nahel on June 27, 2023 and the events which followed, were they able to change their way of working?
A few hours after the death of Nahel, 17, the President of the Republic spoke from Marseille where he was visiting, “Nothing, nothing justifies the death of a young person.”recalling “the emotion of the entire nation” and expressing “respect and affection” to the young man’s family. “We have a teenager who was killed, it is inexplicable, inexcusable and first of all these are words of affection, shared pain and support for his family and loved ones.”
Strong support for the family, but for the police officers, “ils had the presumption of innocence flouted by the President of the Republic, this affair left its mark on the police” says Rudy Manna, spokesman for the Alliance union.
And the feeling is shared by Alexandre* (first name changed), he has been in service for more than 25 years. Based in Marseille, his choice of profession is a vocation.We are in the police and the gendarmerie from father to son from generation to generation, it is truly a vocation to be at the service of protecting the population”. But the heart is no longer in it for this experienced police officer.
“The deterioration of working conditions has been underway for more than 10, 15 years. You only have to look at the lack of candidates for police competitions. This affair has dealt a hard blow to the profession. The trial does not Certainly, there was the death of a young person and it is regrettable, for him, his family and the police officer who fired the shots for whom life is ruined too. profession to popular vindictiveness”, regrets this policeman.
“Emmanuel Macron humiliated us, he threw Shame on the police, no one will forget”explains Arnaud* (first name changed).
There will be a before and an after
Rudy Manna, spokesperson for the Alliance union
For law enforcement “lThe lack of support is glaring” SO “that we were there every day during the riots on the ground, trying to save property, businesses and people, the hierarchy was overwhelmed, we didn’t have clear instructions and there were incidents, but no one takes responsibility for the chaos that reigned those evenings, when we were overwhelmed on all sides”, explains Arnaud, a police officer in Marseille at the end of his career.
“There were so many arrests that the jails were full, we were ordered not to arrest any more, to just evacuate the looted businesses and save everything that could be saved, we had hordes of 200 people opposite, in the city center in Marseille, in 30 years, I have never seen that“, explains Arnaud.
For Rudy Manna, the police know and are aware that everything can change in an instant, “he who will take risks, even though he has perfect service record, on a problem, everything is erased and for five or six years, the police have had it well in mind.”
“I’m 47 years old, I do the job, I do the bare minimum, I don’t want to end up in prison, die, ruin my career, I don’t want to make waves, I want to finish peacefully, my heart can’t help it. is more and I’m not the only one in this case”regrets Alexandre.
According to the government, “Over the period 2016 – 2023, the security services noted 25,700 road traffic refusal offenses on average per year. These decreased slightly over the period (-5%), with an increase between 2016 and 2021, followed by a decrease from 2021 to 2023. Nearly one in five road refusals is an aggravated offense which, in nine out of ten cases, endangers other road users. increased from 16% in 2016 to 21% in 2023.
Figures that are disputed by police unions.
” First of all, it should be noted that since the Nahel affair, the command services do not systematically request monitoring of people fleeing who refuse to comply. In order not to put the lives of police officers and potential collateral victims at risk,” says Rudy Manna.
The consequences are terrible, a police officer no longer intervenes in the same way
Rudy Manna, spokesperson for the Alliance union
Each refusal to comply, like each intervention, generates a complaint,” investigators each have between 150 and 400 complaints to process, priority is given to domestic violence, so most of the time refusals to comply fall through the cracks. In reality, the government’s figures are based on the complaints recorded, but in reality, there are many more, all those that are not processed.” deplores Rudy Manna.
There is a discomfort and it is taboo.
Arnaud, police officer in Marseille
For Arnaud, who is experienced in the profession, after more than 30 years of service: “The thugs have a feeling of impunity, they tell us, so how do you want to work in these conditions? There is a figure to take into account, it is the number of police officers who kill themselves in France, It’s huge and no one talks about it. There’s a feeling of discomfort and it’s taboo.”.
On average, according to a study by the civil service mutual insurance company, there are 44 suicides per year among police officers. In the same study, 39% of police officers say they are in psychological distress and 32% police officers, who live tensions with an audiencesay they are confronted with suicidal thoughts. 24% of them have already considered committing suicide and have heard colleagues want to do so in the last 12 months.
On the other side, they have guys who don’t care about killing people.
Rudy Manna, spokesperson for the Alliance union
“For 2000 bullets, they will be thrown to the wolves, prison, IGPN, preventive detention, trial, etc. So now in the minds of the police, it’s ‘what’s the point’, sometimes, we are forced to shoot in survival mode. Now, we have more risk of going to prison than the thugs. The guys are not going to take risks anymore”, analyse Rudy Manna.
“It’s the disillusionment of an idealized profession”
“At every demonstration, the police are closely watched, their actions are often filmed and often accused before we know what really happened,” regrets Arnaud.
” It started 10 or 15 years ago, there have always been videos. The problem is that the beginning and end of these videos are always missing. Fortunately, now we have on-board cameras which allow us to have the entire video and show what is really happening without editing, in the event of an IGPN investigation. says Rudy Manna.
Arnaud, a police officer in Marseille, regrets that “people only remember the blunders of part of the profession and that this casts opprobrium on an entire profession” and he is joined in his words by Alexandre: “lThe French police are on the brink of a precipice. We are heavily employed in maintaining order, yellow vests, retirement, etc. But we have the entire population against us and the consequences are concrete, no one is applying for police exams anymore.”
We should not make generalizations.
Alexandre, Marseille police officer
“It’s resignation, we’ve seen the evolution of the profession, if you want to be sure of finishing your career without any problems, you ask to be in an office. It’s the system that makes the profession like that, soon, there will be more office civil servants than field police officers. Nobody wants to take risks anymore”, specifies Alexandre, “and this does not only concern those who are close to retirement, I see it every day, there are young colleagues who arrive, they spend 5, 6 years in the public sector, and then they ask to join the administrative services. It’s the disillusionment of an idealized profession.”.
All this leads the police to reconsider their mission, to reconsider their work. “Of course, as in any corporation, there are individuals who sully the function, but for a small number, we must not generalize, like systematically labeling ourselves as racists and guys who think they are modern-day Zorros.“, explains Alexandre, anxious to reestablish certain truths according to him.
Yes there are abuses and these people have no place in the police
Arnaud, police officer in Marseille
“We must clean up the profession, that’s clear, and we question ourselves, yes, there are abuses and these people have no place in the police, but we remind you that whatever the government in place, we must serve the Republic and be at the service of the security of the population.“, insists Arnaud.
“We cannot condone this incessant lack of respect towards us, we risk our lives every day to protect those of citizens, we must not forget that, we have families and we want to go home in the evening, and not“Our goal is not to kill people. On the contrary, that’s what we fear in our career, having to do it to save our lives or those of our colleagues,” he said. Alexandre.
According to him, if there were to be riots again, “the commitment of the police will be different”.
I assure you that at the Ministry of the Interior they light candles
Alexandre, Marseille police officer
And Alexander does not hesitate to talk about “the politics of numbers, which everyone denies, but which nevertheless exists, which is overwhelming, which diverts police officers from their basic profession, everything is done for bonuses, it no longer makes sense”.
Before concluding, ” I assure you that at the Ministry of the Interior, they are lighting candles because between the demonstrations linked to the elections, the terrorist alert at its maximum, the Olympic Games, it is not won. They are praying that there will not be a wave of sick leave too, which is indicative of the state of mind that has changed. The sheep are no longer sheep.”
