The police will do “proof of benevolence”, corn “the most recalcitrant will be fined on the spot”, warned Jérôme Jimenez, Île-de-France spokesperson for the UNSA Police union, Friday, December 31, on franceinfo. 9,000 police and soldiers will be deployed for the New Year in France to enforce public order and health restrictions while the Covid-19 epidemic is on the rise, especially in Île-de-France. Groupings on public roads are prohibited. “We will ensure our mission. We will be present with a lot of staff”, even if “many police officers contract Covid-19 or are in contact and must isolate themselves”, he emphasizes.
franceinfo: Is this a special New Year for the police tonight?
Jérôme Jimenez: Compared to New Year’s Eve, the police are still heavily involved. There are difficult nights in the career of a police officer. It’s July 14, it’s the Fête de la musique. There are deadlines that keep coming back. Tonight’s New Year’s Eve was originally planned to be a rough night. It is not the restrictive sanitary measures which have been taken which mean that this evening, there are more forces engaged. It’s a complicated time. To draw a parallel, last year there were also special conditions since we had a curfew. There was also a struggle of underground parties. There was a ban on regrouping on public roads, so it was already a different New Year’s Eve.
Are there any sectors or situations that you particularly fear?
We are not afraid of overflows. We think in the ranks of the national police that there will be a little less people this evening. The virus is actively circulating. There are also many people who will not go out and who will favor home parties in the family sphere. All night establishments are closed. We don’t have fireworks. We don’t have concerts. It will be forbidden to regroup on the public highway and on this, the police are quite firm.
How many people are there in a group?
It is from six, eight people and we will get in touch quickly. We are going to evict as quickly as possible because the interest of the police is to make themselves available. We must not forget one thing, it is that during the New Year’s Eve, the police-rescue missions are linked. There is a lot, a lot of work, so the police need to be available all night and quickly. And for the most recalcitrant, they will be fined on the spot. It doesn’t take a lot of time today, with the means we have.
Are you going to be benevolent if you observe a few sprains?
We will show kindness. Of course, at midnight, we might be a little more indulgent with people’s behavior. We will try to ensure that the crowd does not gather too quickly on the public highway. We can hear it very well. There will be pedagogy at a specific time on the passage of the New Year, but in my opinion, at two in the morning, three in the morning, if there were to be gatherings on the public highway, there will have less pedagogy and perhaps much more firmness and sanctions.
Police officers are significantly affected by Covid-19?
It is the epidemic which is blazing in the ranks of the national police force because we have proximity missions. We have many, many police officers who contract Covid-19 or who are in contact and who must isolate themselves. With a massive device for tonight, we are recalling people who were to wake up quietly, at home, as at the hospital. But we have to make this New Year’s Eve as secure as possible. We will ensure our mission. We will be present with a lot of staff this evening.