For five days, the police have been crisscrossing the Vallée-du-Tir district of Nouméa 24 hours a day. A reinforced security system has been put in place. How do local residents perceive this system? A team from NC la 1ere visited the site this Friday, October 11, 2024.
This is now the daily routine of gendarme teams. That of traveling through the Vallée-du-tir district, in Nouméa. On site, the security system has been reinforced and the teams are trying to create links with the residents. “We are always well received. We always manage to communicate, even if we don’t agree on everything. We manage to establish a dialogue. It also allows us to make ourselves known. If we have to intervene, we have links and that allows us to have support from the population, to calm the situation more quickly.”, indicates Captain Frédéric Bouvier, gendarmerie platoon commander.
In total, four platoons, or sixty gendarmes, carry out this daily surveillance on behalf of the national police. Patrols rather well received by residents even if some dispute their effectiveness. “We had gendarmes moving around on foot. And the next day, there were again small fires at the intersections. The police arrived with two cars, then a third. But they stayed there, watching the fire. It’s not effective”, assures a resident of the neighborhood.
Other local residents, however, are reassured. “I have my dad who lives in the neighborhood. And for those who are not from the country, it reassures them and they feel secure”, explains the daughter of another resident.
Established since Tuesday, October 8, 2024, the system will be maintained until further notice, to restore calm in the Nouméa district, particularly marked by abuses since May 13.
