The investigators of the Judicial Police once again demonstrated in Montpellier against the departmentalization which would place them under the authority of a departmental director and the prefect. A reform carried out according to them without consultation and which would undermine their freedom to investigate.
They did not take off. Usually very discreet, the investigators of the judicial police have been multiplying the gatherings in front of the police stations for several months. They again took to the streets to protest against the reform of their service this Monday, March 6 against a project “likely to seriously undermine the effectiveness of investigations and the independence of justice”.
This reform at the origin of their anger proposes to place all the police services at the level of the department, including the PJ, under the authority of a single departmental director of the national police (DDPN), dependent on the prefect. Despite their remarks and protests, the reform will take place.
“On reading the letter from the Minister of the Interior, the National Association of Judicial Police (ANPJ) notes bitterly that none of the objections and concerns raised by investigators, magistrates, lawyers and many elected officials have been heard”, notes the ANPJ in a press release.
The Minister has therefore just accomplished the incredible performance of bringing to the ground the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police which fought relentlessly and with all its might against serious and complex organized crime.
National Association of Judicial Police
“The feeling that dominates today within the ranks of the judicial police is disgust at a project which is an almost exact copy of the one proposed last June, proof that no, there was no dialogue , no, there was no consultation”. The fight against financial crime will be particularly impacted, as the SPJs often lack specialized investigators. If the unmentionable objective was to weaken the services likely to initiate investigations into certain personalities, it has been achieved and exceeded, continues the association.
“For six months we have been trying to alert the government to the dangers of this reform, which is a death warrant for the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police and despite the moratoriums recommended, in particular by a senatorial commission, the Minister of the Interior does not listen to anyone.
Nathalie, investigator in MontpellierTreasurer of the ANPJ
“The Departmental Director will concentrate all the police services (investigation with the PJ, petty and medium crime with departmental security, intelligence and illegal immigration, all under the authority of the prefect. We once challenged moreover this hierarchy”, insists Nathalie, investigator in Montpellier and treasurer of the ANPJ.
The ANPJ recalls that it has never been opposed to the principle of reforming the national police and that it is rather in favor of the establishment of professional streams. However, it would like a hierarchical level at the regional minimum, capable of coordinating and guaranteeing the means and action of the investigative services traditionally operating in very large geographical areas and in sensitive and complex cases.
The ANPJ will therefore seek an audience with the President of the Republic who today seems the only possible interlocutor to arbitrate a crisis which involves the safety of citizens and the responsibility of the State.
