The Minister immediately set the tone for this visit to the capital of Gaul by taking everyone by surprise in the morning with an impromptu stroll through the sensitive district of La Guillotière, where the police presence has been reinforced in recent months.
A way of praising its balance sheet moderately appreciated by the city councilor EELV. “I do not want Lyon to become the playground of a candidate minister”, thundered in front of the press Grégory Doucet, all the more angry that he had initially proposed – without success – to the minister to go to this district. in his company.
This cosmopolitan area close to the hyper-center of Lyon has been polarizing media attention for several months and giving the authorities headaches, due to an upsurge in petty trafficking, aggression and incivility. Over the past nine months, police operations have multiplied there and seem to be bearing fruit.
Video clips of Mr. Darmanin’s morning walk were posted on his Twitter account. “Don’t worry”, “we don’t give up”, he told a few traders and residents in his path. A little later, the minister welcomed a 54% drop in thefts and violence against people and property this summer in the district.
At midday, the two men spoke for 1 hour 15 minutes at the Hôtel de Ville. Progress compared to the previous ministerial visit at the end of July, which had been snubbed by the environmentalist mayor.
If he confided to deplore “fundamental political disagreements” with the minister, Mr. Doucet described the meeting as “very frank” in front of the press.
He said he “reminds” Mr. Darmanin that he expected him “to make up for the past disengagement of the state” by increasing the number of national police and by acting against “drug and arms trafficking heavy”.
In a separate press briefing at the prefecture, Mr. Darmanin replied that the increases in the number of national police officers were “at the rendezvous” with 285 additional public security police officers dispatched in 18 months, to next October 31.
“What was planned in three years was done in a year and a half,” he said, also recalling the dispatch of a mobile force unit of 80 men to stay, which will be added to the upcoming installation of four CRS companies in Chassieu (Rhône) and 200 border police officers (PAF) assigned to a new administrative detention centre.
After having joked about his satisfaction at having “finally” met the elected EELV, the minister however said he was “very disappointed” at the refusal of the town hall to organize the deployment of new video protection cameras – still at the stage of the study – and to organize the transfer of the images to the terminals of the national police.
“With no other mayor, things are going so difficult on security,” he insisted, also calling for urban development and more municipal police.
He also demanded from the mayor “less ideology and more love for the police of the Republic”, regretting in particular the fact that the latter did not personally meet three police officers violently attacked on July 20 by a crowd in La Guillotière during the arrest of a suspect.
For his part, Mr. Doucet insisted on the recruitment of 103 municipal police officers since 2020, with a budgetary effort of 5 million euros on the mandate, “the generalization” of video protection in the city, and his will to work ” hand in hand” with the prefecture and the national police.
“We are going to try to put the resentment into the river”, concluded the minister, dismissing any personal resentment, before announcing that he would still return to Lyon “in a month and a half, to continue to encourage the national police force. “.