Tuesday, June 27, the young Nahel, 17, lost his life, in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), following the shooting of a policeman, for refusing to comply during a traffic check. The latter, placed on June 29 in pre-trial detention, was charged with intentional homicide. The day aftera third night of riots shaking several cities of the territory, particularly in Île-de-France, Christian Mouhanna, researcher at the CNRS and director of the Center for sociological research on law and penal institutions (Cesdip) answers the questions of the Point. Training, self-criticism, police strategies… “The organization of the police forces is, unfortunately, the subject of rather poor reflections”, regrets the specialist.
Point : The 2017 law making the use of weapons more flexible in the context of refusal to comply, has been at the center of criticism since the tragedy that occurred on June 27, in Nanterre. But isn’t this also a sign of insufficient police training in this area?
Christian Mouhanna : Yes, absolutely. This law is also mentioned on the grounds that it would have had the effect of increasing the number of fatal shootings in the event of refusal to comply, even though the controls themselves have increased – a six-fold increase in ten years. . And that the problem is indisputably at the level of police training. We recruit a lot today – especially since Emmanuel Macron formulated the objective of 10,000 additional positions – with much lower level requirements than in the past and by cutting back on initial but also continuous training. However, the latter aims precisely to get up to speed and to know the evolution of the techniques of handling of the weapons.
And this is crucial, particularly in the context which is ours. Because, in difficult places, the police are afraid. They have been saying it for about fifteen years now; the placards they brandish in demonstration bear witness to this. When a policeman shoots, it’s often because he’s afraid, panicky. However, the management of this emotion is learned. But this should not make us forget that we must also and above all question ourselves more broadly about the organization of the police forces, their strategies…
READ ALSODeath of Nahel in Nanterre: why the suburbs are on fire
That’s to say ?
They are, unfortunately, the subject of rather poor reflections. Self-criticism is almost non-existent in the police. We only have to see the reactions of the majority Alliance union, which has been speaking out since the tragedy in support of its colleague [il a notamment indiqué qu’il jugeait « inconcevable » qu’Emmanuel Macron qualifie ce drame d’« inexcusable », NDLR].
And initiatives outside the corporation are also limited. In addition to the daily security police, launched by Gérard Collomb, aiming to recreate the link and ultimately remaining quite marginal, neither the right nor the left really dare to attack the subject of police strategies in sensitive neighborhoods. The “politics of figures” wanted by Nicolas Sarkozy rather irritated people in the field and loosened their links with the hierarchy. As for the Beauvau of security [consultation lancée en février 2021 en France avec les syndicats de police, des élus, magistrats et membres de la société civile, NDLR]Jean Castex did not invite any researcher, however strong in studies and international comparisons, to participate in the reflection…
How could we draw inspiration from abroad?
Several avenues could be explored in order to renew the dialogue in difficult neighborhoods and get out of this face-to-face and this permanent tension, which weighs on young people but also and above all on the police. I am thinking, for example, of the United Kingdom, where citizens’ commissions go so far as to participate in reflections on local security policies. But also to some of our European neighbours, who deploy intervention techniques other than those of pointing a weapon at a civilian in the event of refusal to comply (blocking the wheels, for example)… I know that in the fire action, anything can happen, it’s universal. But when we see the images of the Nanterre policeman, who lies down on the car and points his weapon towards a lethal zone, we can clearly see that there is a problem…
READ ALSODeath of Nahel: power on a crest line
How does the IGPN (General Inspectorate of the National Police), which is investigating the fatal police shootings, and therefore the drama in Nanterre, work?
It conducts a judicial and sometimes administrative investigation, aiming to present the results to the investigating judge, to the prosecution and, if necessary, to the hierarchy of the police officer in question. As the IGPN generally gets to the bottom of things, these investigations can take time. We question the defendant, the witnesses, we analyze the images of video surveillance. Images from mobile phones, as there are in the drama that concerns us, are also examined. This reflex that some citizens now have of capturing images in the event that things go wrong is not always to the liking of the police, but it is authorized by the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which indicates that any administration can be controlled by the citizens, and the latter constitute, a posteriori, valuable elements for the investigators of the IGPN.
What do you think of the images of riots that have been going on in the territory for three days?
What is striking is the broadening of the scope of these riots, which are not limited to neighborhoods but spill over into city centers. We are no longer just witnessing self-destruction but something more demanding, offensive. If accompanied by delinquency of opportunity, there is a clear desire to be heard. A fed up, maybe frustrations… I’m not defending the rioters, but maybe we should also try to understand what’s behind these reactions, to move forward.
READ ALSOHenri Leclerc: “This urban violence is inevitable”
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