Launch of the daily security police in the Bordeaux Maritime district, here in Bacalan, February 28, 2018. – M.Bosredon/20Minutes
- The municipal elections are held on March 15 and 22, 2020. Every Monday, 20Minutes will address a theme of the campaign. Today, security.
- All the candidates are in favor of an increase in the number of municipal police.
- On the other hand, the question of video surveillance, and especially of the arming of the municipal ones, strongly divides.
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Far behind mobility, housing and the environment, security will not rise on the podium of priority themes for Bordeaux candidates. But, in 2020, it is a subject that no candidate will be able to spare, while he was little present in the 2014 campaign.
After a series of urban rodeos, at the Bassins à flot but also in the city center, open-air drug trafficking and settling of scores on the side of Saint-Michel, all the contenders for mayor believe that it is a matter of concern. Here are the main proposals they make.
Strengthen the staff of the municipal police
Regardless of the candidate elected for mayor next March, the municipal police will see their means reinforced. Currently staffed with 120 people, it will see its workforce increase to 200 agents if Thomas Cazenave (LREM) or Pierre Hurmic (EELV) are elected. Even the outgoing mayor Nicolas Florian (LR), who has already recruited around twenty additional agents, now displays the same ambition.
“There is a lack of personnel on the ground, and I am in favor of the municipal police taking back public space, and not only in the city center” insists Pierre Hurmic. Thomas Cazenave, for his part, wants to redeploy these police officers “at the mesh of 16 neighborhoods, and no longer 8 as is currently the case. “
The candidate RN Bruno Paluteau is considering for the moment an increase in the workforce “of 15 to 20%. “For Pascal Jarty (without label) it would take around forty additional people,” at a minimum. “The latter wants at the same time to create” an Allô Police Proximity line which will link people directly to the city’s security headquarters, for greater responsiveness “and” a municipal police station in each district. “
Greater complementarity with the national police
Most of the candidates are also calling for “stronger cooperation” with the national police. Nicolas Florian thus envisages “common police hotels” and possibly “common brigades”. “” We need complementarity between the two policies, not confusion, warns Pierre Hurmic. I do not agree that there is a transfer of responsibilities, each one his functions, and the security of goods and people is indeed the competence of the national police. “
Armament, a question that divides
Nicolas Florian is still awaiting a study on the subject of arming the municipal police, and wishes to launch this debate in the municipal council. At the beginning of November, he was worried about leaving his agents “without security” in the districts of Saint-Michel and Grand-Parc “where the situation is deteriorating”. “But he really wants a preliminary discussion on the subject, and his idea would not be to arm the entire municipal police, only a part” now qualifies his campaign team. The outgoing mayor is also thinking of a drone, which could go where we can not install CCTV cameras, and a canine brigade.
Unsurprisingly, the RN candidate for his part wants “a well-armed municipal police force. Pierre Hurmic is “totally hostile to the municipal police being armed” because it would be “a trivialization of lethal weapons which must remain the prerogative of the national police. “” The municipal police are there to ensure public peace, they don’t need to be armed. Thomas Cazenave does not want this armament either, believing that a judicious redeployment of personnel in the field will be more effective.
Pascal Jarty for his part warns that he does not intend to “transform himself into the city sheriff” and prefers to attack “the roots of evil, with actions towards young people and the stimulation of life in the neighborhoods. “
Hang on to CCTV cameras
Nicolas Florian has already announced that he will increase the number of cameras from 120 to 150, “and if that is not enough we will put 200”. For Pascal Jarty, it is above all necessary to “renew these video surveillance cameras, for the most part dilapidated, and develop them in sensitive areas, Bassins à flot and Saint-Michel in particular. “Bruno Paluteau also wants a development of video protection, regretting that it is” mainly concentrated around the station “at present.
Thomas Cazenave says he is in favor of the development of “video protection” but also notes that “a large number of cameras do not work”.
Pierre Hurmic remains opposed to video surveillance, believing that it should not be the responsibility of cities. “It is a transfer of powers from the State to the municipalities. “
