info “20 Minutes” In addition to the arrival of reinforcements, the Minister of the Interior announces to “20 Minutes” the creation of units to fight against the crime in transport in eight major cities, and brigades in 37 provincial towns
Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories, in his office in Paris, November 23, 2022. — Olivier Juszczak
- In an exclusive interview with 20 Minutes, the Minister of the Interior reveals several measures taken to fight against insecurity in public transport, everywhere in France.
- 1,835 additional police officers and gendarmes will soon be deployed on the ground, including 200 in Paris . Gérald Darmanin also announces the creation of specialized units in eight large cities, and 37 brigades in smaller towns in the provinces.
- A way for Place Beauvau to prepare for the massive arrival of spectators at the occasion of the Olympic Games in 2024.
1,835 additional police and gendarmes on the ground, creation of specialized units in eight large towns and 37 brigades in smaller towns in the provinces… In an interview with 20 Minutesthis Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior unveils several measures taken to fight against crime in public transport. Assaults, thefts… All offenses committed on buses, trains, metros or trams and recorded by the police are down, further details Gérald Darmanin.
This does not prevent Place Beauvau from now preparing for the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris. Paris, and to anticipate the massive arrival of spectators from all over the world who will use public transport during the competition. “We are going to develop a whole security service; in transport, set up police stations in stations to facilitate the taking of complaints, ” he announced in particular.
Last year, the police services and of gendarmerie have registered a 4% increase in theft and violence in public transport. What about since?
We had actually observed a general increase in violence against people, especially in transport. For two years, 200 additional police officers have therefore been deployed and we asked the forces of order, both the CRS, the mobile gendarmes and the police officers of the police stations, to get off in the metro, to go on the buses, the trams…
This device has been effective since, over the first ten months of the year, an 8% drop in violence in public transport was recorded. registered throughout France. It is even 18% if we compare the months of September and October 2021 and 2022. In the Rhône, this drop reaches 50%; to Paris, it is 26 %; in Seine-Saint-Denis, 22%. All indicators, including theft and sexual assault, are down.
Do you intend to step up measures to combat this crime?
With Clément Beaune, Minister Delegate; loaded of Transport, we are going, between now and the Olympic Games, to more than double the number of police forces in public transport, particularly in large cities, because that is where it is. that we borrow the most. 10% of French people use them daily to get around, it’s even 25% in Ile-de-France. We are going to go from 1,675 police and gendarmes who patrol public transport to; 3.510. That’s 1,835 more, of which 200 alone. Paris. It’s an unprecedented effort.
We will also create new units. Today, only Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille have dedicated public transport services. There will be some in eight other large agglomerations – Bordeaux, Rennes, Orleans, Rouen, Strasbourg, Dijon, Nantes and Toulouse – with 60 to 60 people. 90 police officers assigned to each of these units. Finally, in less important towns such as Angers, Amiens or Lens, 37 brigades of 10 & 20 agents will be put in place.
Figures from recent years highlight an over-representation of foreigners among the victims. Will a specific system be put in place, particularly with the hosting of the Olympic Games in 2024?
I’asked; to the prefects of the departments concerned to send me, before the end of the month, proposals for arriving at zero crime during the Olympics. There is obviously a public transport component, particularly in Ile-de-France. Foreign police officers will come to help their French counterparts, if only to inform people who take the transport.
We are going to develop a whole security service. in transport, set up police stations in stations to facilitate the handling of complaints. Reinforcements and the creation of specialized brigades will also allow law enforcement to patrol, both in stations and within public transport. Up to now, the teams were divided, which made them less efficient.
Have lessons been learned? taken after the events at the Stade de France, during the final of the Football Champions League?
400 additional police officers are now deployed in each event to specifically fight crime. There have been no incidents since. Two days before, we start to saturate the public space as soon as the public transport exit – RER B and D and metro line 13. Our strategy is to do a lot of work upstream with checks on the previous days, a presence on site, so that on D-Day, the public space is “ cleaned” – there is no other word – of all delinquency.
Are specific measures going to be put in place to reassure women who use public transport  ;?
Three months ago, we launched a free application called MaSécurité. It’s the new 17. It allows users, especially women, who witness or are victims of aggression, to chat with a police officer or a gendarme, day or night. They can, for example, report a problem occurring on a metro line and specify that it arrives at such station from here to; 10 minutes. But this application is not very well known yet, we will make it so.
Thanks to; the law that we have passed, it will also be possible to use this application to file a complaint online. It may relate to all acts of delinquency, in particular aggression. A police officer or gendarme will then contact the person again within 24 hours. The idea is that our fellow citizens need less and less to go to the police station, and that the police and gendarmes come to them more and more.
In your opinion, should we continue to develop new technologies to fight against crime in public transport?
We can only encourage local authorities to install video protection cameras and use the fund provided for this effect to finance them. In Paris, with the prefect of police, we are going to considerably increase the number of cameras, especially near public transport.