Refusals to comply by motorists in the gendarmerie zone increased by 19% between 2019 and 2021, reports Wednesday July 20 the General Inspectorate of the National Gendarmerie (IGGN) during a press conference. The gendarmes face a refusal to comply every 37 minutes, specifies the IGGN. “Our goal is always to try to stop without using force“, indicates General Alain Pidoux, boss of the IGGN.
Over the same period, the use of weapons by the gendarmes, all interventions combined, remained stable, specifies the IGGN. Between 2020 and 2021, the IGGN still notes a slight increase, from 74 weapon uses to 88. “We have a responsibility for collective control. During our trainings, we rehearse extensively the use of force frameworks which are highly regulated.“.
“Each opening of fire has an absolute level of seriousness”.
Alain Pidoux, head of the IGGNfranceinfo
Motorists who refuse to comply are often “people who have lost their points” and or “drunk“, indicates Alain Pidoux. “The number of people who drive without a license has increased”, also affirms the boss of the IGGN. “Their reflex is to flee and sometimes endanger our gendarmes“, he laments.
In these situations, the gendarmes are “confronted with the immediacy“and must”react in seconds“, explains Alain Pidoux. “The objective is not specifically to stop the car immediately but to be able to stake it on a course and then stop it“, recalls the boss of the IGGN who recognizes that the gendarmes must “still progress“.”This is why we have the ambition of a regional training center per region“, he indicates, in order to allow the gendarmes to “go back to these structures regularly“.
Assaults against gendarmes have increased by 110% in the past ten years and assaults with weapons by 323%, indicates the annual report of the IGGN, published on Wednesday. In 95% of assaults with weapons, the gendarmes do not retaliate with a firearm, assures this report. In 2021, 10 people died and 20 were injured after the action of the gendarmes.
In addition, the IGGN recorded an increase in reports received in 2021. The external platform recorded 2,344 complaints, an increase of 31% compared to the previous year, explained in particular by a better knowledge of the structure within the population, according to the IGGN. 253 internal reports were also made, 75% of which were for reasons of moral harassment at work. In 2021, 111 ethical breaches were observed and led to administrative sanctions.