“I do not hold them back, those who want to be armed” : comments from the mayor PS of Clermont-Ferrand, Olivier Bianchi, on the police of his municipality, were denounced Sunday by the opposition and a union of the profession.
“I did not force anyone to come and apply to us”, launched Friday Mr. Bianchi, questioned by his opposition in the city council on the arming of the police locale, which he refuses for the moment.
“There are enough cities today with armed police for them to go and apply, is that clear? “, added the mayor, visibly irritated. Those who don’t want to go to the field, “I have the power to requisition them and if they don’t go, I have the power to apply heavy sanctions against them. “
Opposition elected officials denounced comments “Abject” and demanded “Public apologies” in a press release published on Sunday, broadcasting two minutes of extracts from the city council, whose meeting was held by videoconference.
Asked Sunday by AFP, Mr. Bianchi deplores a “Recovery” from a right-wing opposition “Populist”, claiming that his entire intervention was more “Nuanced”.
“53% of municipal police officers in France are armed, 47% are not. Those who apply here know where they are coming from ”, maintained the city council, who however plans to create night brigades and arm them, as claimed by the CFDT union, the majority among the fifty municipal police officers of Clermont.
Feeling insecure
A decision will be taken within the next two months and submitted to the municipal council for a vote. But “That does not necessarily mean arming all the municipal police”, underlines the mayor, for whom “It is not the weaponry that solves the problems of incivility: the national police is, is it putting an end to it? “.
Cédric Michel, president of the Union for the defense of municipal police officers, for his part denounced the comments “Extremely virulent”, in a video broadcast on the internet on Saturday.
“The day a Clermont municipal police officer is injured or killed as a result of an act of delinquency or a terrorist act, and that he will not be able to defend himself because he has not been armed, the mayor will bear this heavy responsibility ”, warned the trade unionist.
“It is very surprising on the part of a left mayor to utter such threats”, he added, calling on Clermont officials to assert their right of withdrawal if they feel insecure, or even to take Mr. Bianchi at his word when leaving the town.
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