Two police officers sentenced to six and eight months in prison, suspended, for violence during an arrest in Val-d’Oise

A man was beaten after a photo of a police officer dressed as a stripper was found on his phone in 2021 in Cormeilles-en-Parisis.

Two police officers were sentenced on Thursday, August 1, to six and eight months in prison, suspended, for punching and using their electric shock pistol against a young man in 2021 during an arrest in Val-d’Oise.

During a check in the common areas of a building in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, five members of the local security group of the Argenteuil police station discovered in a phone the private photo of one of their colleagues in fishnet stockings. The photo had been circulating for several days on social networks.

The young owner of the phone, 19, was then subjected to an unleashing of violence from the officers. During the 40-minute intervention, “There were two punches, kicks to the knee and Taser blows… about fifteen”the young man had described at the end of June during the trial, assuring that he had not struggled, paralyzed by fear. Medical examinations confirmed multiple hematomas and contusions on the face and left leg, as well as psychological repercussions.

The trial was marked by silence and allusive statements. At the hearing, the three officials denied the blows. The leader of the group, who had the electric pulse pistol, explained that he had only used it once. “in contact mode”directly on the young man, and the rest in deterrent mode (a noise trigger). The analysis of the weapon reported 26 one-second triggers and another five-second trigger.

The investigation was changed thanks to the testimony of one of the five officials, who has since been ostracized. He claimed that an official “threw a punch” and another “multiple Taser shots without any motive”. He has since been seconded from the police, at his request, and moved to another region.

The police officer sentenced to eight months in prison with a simple suspended sentence was also banned from working on public roads for one year. A third officer, also prosecuted for violence, was acquitted on the benefit of the doubt. The two other members of the crew, who appeared for having failed to prevent the violence, were acquitted.