Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, was the guest of franceinfo this Saturday.
“Participating in such a demonstration means endorsing a certain number of slogans which hurt the police officers I lead”declared Saturday September 23 on franceinfo Laurent Nuñez, Paris police prefect, while several marches are planned against police violence at the call of unions and associations such as the CGT or Attac.
>> Demonstrations against police violence: “We must break with the principle of ever fewer and ever more armed police officers”, believes Sophie Binet of the CGT
On the occasion of these demonstrations, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin called on the prefects to be vigilant in the face of the demonstrators “who dirty” the police. A message heard by Laurent Nuñez, who assures that it will be “very attentive to the comments that will be made” as well as signs and placards mentioning in particular “the police kill” Or “police everywhere, justice nowhere”. “These are often proposals with an insulting and outrageous connotation, threats which fall within the scope of the law”supports the Paris police prefect who promises “to immediately take legal action”.
1,000 police officers deployed at the demonstration in Paris
Laurent Nuñez “warns participants” to the mobilization organized in Paris, on which “a little more than 1,000 police officers will be” deployed. “We can arrest people in the act, blatantly, but we can also take legal action based on a photo or a recording and that’s what we’re going to do today.”, he insists. While “several thousand people” are expected in Paris for this demonstration, the police prefect affirms that the “police device will be remote”. “But we will intervene as soon as there is damage and violence”he specifies.
For the Paris police prefect, this mobilization against police violence “says nothing about the context” current in France. He describes this criticism of the police as “totally unfounded”. Laurent Nuñez maintains on the contrary that “the majority of French people love their police, trust them and know that the police are there to protect them and fight against delinquents”. He recalls that the police “may sometimes use legitimate violence”especially for “arrest offenders and put an end to dangerous behavior, damage and looting”. But he insists that “the proportionality of police action is always subject to judicial authority and is always carried out within a legal framework”.
>> Two Brav-M police officers sent to court for violence against a student during a demonstration in March in Paris
“Our fellow citizens understand that when people engage in dangerous behavior, the police must use legitimate, legal and proportionate violence to put an end to it.”, adds Laurent Nuñez. He also explains that if we note “more and more refusal to obey, more and more people who no longer respect authority” SO “mechanically you have an increase in the use of force, but once again legitimate, proportionate”.