The escape during a medical extraction that occurred at Pontoise hospital in Val-d’Oise on Tuesday evening brings the number of this type of escape to 8 in 2021 in France, franceinfo learned on Wednesday from the ministry of Justice. An investigation has been opened for “escape in an organized gang” and “attempted murder of a person holding public authority”.
The prosecution explains that this detainee, aged 28 and remanded in custody at Osny remand center since October 1, 2021 for acts of assassination last September in Valenton (Val-de-Marne), has simulated a suicide attempt. “Arrived at the emergency room, he was awaited by at least one accomplice, provided with a long weapon, who quickly fired on a prison supervisor, hitting him in the back. The detainee, helped by his accomplice, fled in a vehicle.“
The prosecution also specifies that “the days of the prison warden, hospitalized in Pontoise“, are” not in danger. “He must leave the hospital on the evening of Wednesday. The 28-year-old detainee had also been convicted on multiple occasions, in particular for traffic offenses and aggravated acts of violence .
During this extraction, “the escort of 3 officers was not armed, but equipped with bulletproof vests“. To be authorized to carry a weapon, these agents must undergo training but this training program has been slowed down by the health crisis.”They must be accelerated in 2022“, said the Chancellery.”The level of risk should be placed in context“where in 2020”there were only 2 escapes out of 54,371 medical extractions, 8 in 2019 (out of 69,237 medical extractions) and 8 in 2021“.
“Over the past 3 years, only one of these escapes has occurred with an outside complicity. The most classic scenario is that of the inmate’s flight.”
Ministry of Justiceto franceinfo
In normal times, the agents of the PREJ (regional center of judicial extraction), who carry out judicial extractions (transfer of detainees from the penitentiary establishment to the court), are armed. They have all undergone training in order to be qualified to carry weapons. They are 1,171 spread across the territory.
However, it is different for medical extractions because they are the responsibility of the penitentiary establishments. To ensure them in a secure manner, an October 2019 circular provides that local prison security teams (ELSPs) will be deployed on the territory. This deployment involves training and empowering officers in each establishment to carry weapons. It is these trainings that have fallen behind since the appearance of Covid-19.
According to the Ministry of Justice “on the interregional management of Paris, it is already planned that 216 agents will be trained next year” [2022]. “ATu December 13, 2021, 519 prison staff are authorized to carry weapons, divided into 51 local prison security teams deployed on the territory“, indicates the Chancellery.