Beyond the fear that their driving brings, spending a day or night with the police officers of the anti-crime squad is an incredible experience. Those in Nancy, whom we followed, call on 750 people per year.
Eric Nicolas – Today at 06:25
7 p.m. sharp, start of duty for Laurent, the group leader, Maxime and Fabrice. A look at the complaints of the day, the list of wanted guys or even the places to watch. The Skoda takes on its three passengers. A quiet little walk and the radio crackling. “BAC Charly, can you hear me? “. It is the command cell which indicates that a car, in the Champ-le-Boeuf district, is blocking the street and preventing other users from passing.
At the wheel, Maxime, worthy heir of Sébastien Loeb, presses the button, activating the two-tone. “I’ll put the garland on you,” slips Laurent, who places the flashing light on the roof of the car. More than 120 km/h in the middle of the city and the irrepressible temptation to make the sign of the cross at each red light… When the car stops near the immobilized Mercedes, a nauseating smell of gum stings the nose. False alarm. “A guy who has a flat tire and is parked haphazardly.”
“A man heard noises on his balcony”
The three “baqueux” took the opportunity to push to the prison. “There are often drones at night,” slips Fabrice who, getting out of the Skoda with an optical telescope, notices that sheets, supposed to collect cell phones or even drugs, are swinging outside the remand center between two cells. Thirty minutes of surveillance but not the slightest object flying in the air. New departure at a hundred miles an hour, direction Jarville. “A man reportedly heard noises on his balcony. He won’t see anyone because he didn’t give his exact address…
95% of checks are carried out perfectly. Photo Alexandre Marchi
The Fiesta which refused control was embedded in a concrete block. Its four occupants were arrested. Photo Alexandre Marchi
The daytime BAC stole two hundred-gram strips of resin from under the noses of dealers in the Provinces district, in Laxou. Photo Alexandre Marchi
BAC daytime patrol in the Nations shopping center, in Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy. Photo Alexandre Marchi
Leaving the nightclub “Le Chat Noir”, always subject to confusion. Photo Alexandre Marchi
When the night is over, the “baqueux”, in their cramped office, focus on the inevitable procedure. Photo Alexandre Marchi
It always ends badly, sir, when you use a knife
The next artery, rue Robert Schuman, in the Vandoeuvre ZUP, the police know it by heart. On the steps, around twenty young people, in small groups. The Skoda passes at very slow speed, windows down. The three police officers “cut off” each of the young night owls on their left. A remark arises. The car slowly reverses: “Was there a problem when we passed?” », says, falsely naive, Maxime. One of the young people gets up, stands in front of the Skoda and immediately addresses the police officer on familiar terms. For a few seconds, the tension is maximum, similar to that of the face to face in the film “BAC Nord”, at the entrance to the city.
“It’s tense, yes, but it doesn’t go any further,” slips Laurent when the car moves away. Head for the city center, still at full speed. A homeless man, carrying a knife and a few grams of heroin, is arrested after forcing the door of a dry column. He was going to collect his things from the adjoining parking lot. Fabrice, when getting into the Skoda: “it always ends badly, sir, when you use a knife…”
It is now 2:30 a.m. and Maxime, at the bend of a street in the center of Nancy, recognizes a trailer. “A guy who smashes cars and steals what’s inside. » Laurent and Fabrice tail him but the man only slams the doors, without going any further and committing an offense. Monitoring is interrupted by a new call. Maxime, alias “Lead Foot”, puts the rubber back on, heading towards Tomblaine. A Fiesta, with four people on board, refused to stop during a check. All the police forces are on his trail. The car is embedded in a one cubic meter block of concrete. No serious injuries, a miracle. The occupants fled into a field but were arrested after a 20-minute search. One of them is 16 years old…
“Now, dealers deliver by scooter”
The end of the service is approaching, and like every weekend, the BAC must pass by the Chat Noir, this nightclub whose surroundings are the scene of recurring violence. This time, no fight but a young girl, lifeless on the ground after drinking too much. Her friends slap her, not the slightest reaction… She will be taken care of by the firefighters who still have to be pulled to come. “And it’s like that every weekend…”
During the day, the “drivers” drive slower, due to traffic, and concentrate mainly on drug trafficking. “It’s simple: if there were no drugs, there would be fewer roulette thefts or burglaries. » The fight against drug trafficking is becoming more and more difficult. “Yes, that has changed. Before, the deal points were fixed and the addicts came to get their drugs. Now, the dealers deliver on scooters…” slips Alex who shoots during the day with Fred and Laurent. On the menu, Haut-du-Lièvre on the heights of Nancy, Cali in Jarville, the glaucous Nations shopping center in Vandoeuvre or Laxou.
It is 5:30 p.m., the BAC Passat comes to park in front of the old shopping center in the Provinces district of Laxou, in front of around fifteen young people. “This is the biggest deal point in all of Nancy. » The three police officers rush into the old shopping arcade, returning a few minutes later with their prize of war: two loaves of 100 g of resin, unearthed under the noses and beards of the young people under the iron curtain of a old business. “It’s always this…”
Behind the scenes at the BAC: “Having the desire to hunt”
Working at the BAC means loving marauding, having the flagrante delicto always in mind
“The ideal profile to join the BAC? Be sporty, show initiative and, above all, want to hunt, otherwise it’s not even worth it…”. The statement is signed by the captain who directs the support units in Nancy (the anti-crime brigade and the GSP, Local Security Group). Every day and every night, a crew of 3 to 5 civil servants in civilian clothes tracks down, in one or two unmarked cars but with supercharged engines, the flagrante delicto.
“Before there were always two cars but this has not been the case for several years,” continues the officer. “We went from two groups of 15 officials to 10 (for the night) or 11 (for the day). We have less and less staff.” These police officers are sent on the most dangerous missions. “Yes, as soon as there is a notion of a weapon, it is the BAC which leaves first”.
The missions of the “baqueux” are varied: refusal to comply, caravans, break-ins and the inevitable drug trafficking. “Day work is not exactly the same as night work,” continues the captain. “The daytime BAC is more about drugs. The deal points are in principle closed at night.” Other missions of the BAC: intervene to reinforce the Emergency Police, provide security services for large demonstrations, close protection during official trips but also intervene first during mass killings.
“Taking out your gun is really the last resort”
Leader of two BAC night groups in Nancy, Laurent, 41, is a thousand miles from the cowboys of the 90s who drew faster than their shadow.
Make no mistake, not all swimmers have the pecs that put their t-shirts to torture. Laurent, 41 years old, civil partnership, two children, is normally a guy. Well almost. The man, leader of one of the two nighttime BAC groups, is sharp as a blade. “I have always played sports. Combat sports from 15 years old: French boxing then judo, taekwondo, ju-jitsu. » Fifteen years old is also the age at which Laurent began to think about joining the police. “Yes, that’s a bit of a lame answer, but the police are about helping people who can’t defend themselves alone. For me, it’s a vocation. »
“The most tense situation I encountered This year, in June, during the riots, in front of the Nations, in Vandoeuvre, we were charged by around a hundred individuals. » Photo ER/A. Marchi
No two nights are ever the same
A baccalaureate, law studies validated by a license then the police competition, in 2006. First position in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis). “I did eight years of Emergency Police, in the night brigade. It’s not an obligatory step but it’s still very educational.” Then it will be the BAC – day and night – in Drancy, for four and a half years before returning to his native East. “One year of Police Rescue in Toul then the BAC at night, in Nancy. » A demanding job with nights from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. “It’s just a habit to get into, that’s all. It’s certain that from three o’clock in the morning, it’s complicated. When I come home, around 6:30 a.m., generally, I come across my son who is going to college…” The BAC is about action, tracking down the flagrante delicto. “Yes, no two nights are ever the same. You never know what you’re going to come across. » These nights, the boatmen spend them marauding, hunting, “exposing”, to show that they are present, these delinquents whom they almost all know. “They know us too…”
What rings the bell? Shady guys hanging out in a parking lot, a shifty eye, a car behaving strangely. “What excites me the most? A wagoner. It seems simple from the outside but it is quite complicated. We must follow him, not arouse his suspicions.”
Control the situation
According to Laurent, 95% of checks go well. “In fact, a simple word can sometimes be misinterpreted. We are trying to calm the situation as much as possible. Afterwards, some don’t want to stop…” continues the group leader, a far cry from the cowboys of the 90s who used their weapons everywhere. The Sig Sauer 9 mm which gives him a slight dent under his shirt, it’s quite simple, he has never fired with it. “No, I’ve taken it out about twenty times but I’ve never shot anyone and that’s fine. This means that we have managed to control the situation. Pulling out your gun is really the last resort. The most tense situation I’ve encountered? This year, in June, during the riots, in front of the Nations, in Vandoeuvre, we were attacked by around a hundred individuals. We threw tear gas. This is where it starts to get dangerous. If we get surrounded, it’s going to end badly, we know that…”
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