lives behind bars

Prison overcrowding, violence, trafficking, constantly understaffed guards… One of our teams obtained the exceptional authorization to film the daily life of the Villepinte penitentiary center, in Seine-Saint-Denis: 965 prisoners for 582 places available when this filming. It is one of the most important prisons in Ile-de-France.

Threats, staggered hours, lack of staff… multiple difficulties for supervisors

Here, convicts and defendants rub shoulders (that is to say people who have not yet been tried), petty criminals, big bosses or terrorists. The mission of prison staff is to ensure the custody, surveillance and security of detainees, a difficult and risky job. Insults, threats, staggered hours, lack of personnel… the difficulties of the agents are multiple. Few supervisors have chosen this job by vocation but rather for the salary: between 2,000 and 2,500 euros gross monthly, with a civil servant status which reassures some.

A report by Marina Ladous, Etienne Huver, Eve Bartoli and Boris Hegger for Slug News and TV Presse broadcast in “Special Envoy” on June 23, 2022.

In the car “Special Envoy” before this report: Dominique Simonnot, general controller of places of deprivation of liberty.

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