REPORTING. A year after Nahel’s death, neighborhood associations in Romainville “channel tensions” between young people and the police

“Call them. If it’s not from you, They’re never going to show up!” Daouda Gory, director of the Intercultural Youth Association of Romainville (Ajir), in Seine-Saint-Denis, grabs the handset handed to him by Moussa, 17 years old. It only takes a few minutes to convince the latter’s friends to come and attend the workshop he is about to lead. on relations between the police and the population, Friday June 14. Almost a year after Nahel’s death, he invited around twenty participants, aged 17 to 23, to discuss together their representations of the police. The exchange, moderated by a social mediator and an integration advisor, is part of long-term work: since July 2023, Ajir has organized one workshop per month.

“Case’East set up a week after the riots”, explains Daouda. While Romainville was the scene of strong tensions at the end of June 2023, ranging from trash fires to the damage to businesses including the fire of a daycare center, the town hall asked neighborhood associations to set up projects to “calm the situation”. Neither one nor two, the thirty-year-old created a monthly speaking space, which alternates between meetings with representatives of the institution and freer debates, where young people are encouraged to compare their points of view. In the near future, Daouda plans to invite men in uniform to come and talk with young people. But tonight they’re going to be “between them” For “to prick, to exchange, to debate”. And above all, for “to be confronted” to their certainties.

Very quickly, the word “police” is on everyone’s lips. And for Daouda, it is out of the question to equate it solely with abusive controls or blunders. Hoping to create nuance, he separates the young people into two groups. The first team is supposed to demonstrate that law enforcement checks are necessary to maintain safety, while the second must explain why they are often discriminatory. If the arguments in favor of the second option abound, young people struggle to defend the usefulness of the controls. A shy “fight against delinquency” is heard, immediately accompanied by a “but that doesn’t mean I agree, does it!” Daouda returns to the charge, calmly, until the postures disappear and give way to sharing experiences.

“There are good people and bad people everywhere”judge Akibou, 18 years old. For example, with the guys from Well done-M, basic, controls are happening too much wrong. But once there was one who took off his hood and told us to be careful. We laughed together, we talked for fifteen minutes, it was cool.” Next to him, Brice, 19, adds: “We need more who do prevention like that…” Despite everything, he believes that this positioning is not that of “the majority” : “When I get humiliated in front of my friends, what do I do? Afterwards, obviously, when I see the police, I hate…”

A hatred that Daouda continues to try to deconstruct, patiently, without ever restricting exchanges. “What matters is not what I say, but what they say”considers the director of Ajir, who makes a point of honor “bring the group to life” without ever censoring it. To do this, he once again separates the young people into two teams: one must find the arguments in favor of harsher justice towards “police officers who commit blunders”. The other is supposed to explain why “more sanctions are necessary against young people who are violent towards the police”. Quickly, the debate turns to Nahel’s death.

For many, the pot in support of the police officer is the argument of absolute impunity. To the point of justifying the riots that followed? Certainly not, argues Manthita, social mediator. “Breaking stores, burning nurseries, the cars of your dads who go to work in the morning, that has nothing to do with it, does it?” Amid the hubbub, most of the young people acquiesce. “I went there, but I did not know that it was going to happen like this. I stopped after two days, I told myself that we were not attacking to good people”testifies a 18-year-old teenager, his gaze glued to the ground.

He is the only one in the group to admit to having participated. Some admit to having thought about it, but say they have not taken the plunge. “The presidents of the city’s associations all got together to stop us from going there.”, explains one of them. Inès, 22, agrees, laughing: “People like Daouda, they confined us to the limit!” The interested party bursts out laughing, without denying it. After the workshop, he lets slip: “VSand that I seek to them TO DO understand is that there are peaceful solutions. And above all, I want to give them the framework that I lacked.”

A setting that Inès cherishes. “When a little one does something stupid in the neighborhood, someone from the association immediately puts them back in place”says the young woman, who feels safe on the streets “thanks to neighborhood associations”. “They channel tensions and even if they will never be able to do the work of the police, they are the ones who make me feel good in the cities”, she says, grateful. She likes shared meals, organized parties, helping with homework… “It’s thanks to all this that we work together, that we keep hope.”

For Aaron, 19, this hope is embodied by Daouda. “He had a youth like us and when we get old, we have to become like him”asserts the young man, whose statement seems to be unanimous within the group. “These young people, we take care of them, but they also take care of us, even if they are suffering.”, adds Leila, integration advisor. The Ajir director smiled, obviously in agreement. He has been devoting his daily life to the young people of Romainvillle for more than ten years. In the second part of the workshop, he calls on them to find ways to improve the link between the police and the population.

To do this, he asks them to identify the main sources of misunderstandings in their relationship. “The abuse of power” conferred by wearing the uniform comes up again and again, as do prejudices. When a young person mentions “racism”one of the participants opposes him: “And when it’s Renois who control Renois?” He doesn’t answer, shrugs his shoulders. The word continues to circulate. “I think it has gotten worse over the past year, that they are nitpicking even more.”says a 17-year-old teenager.

Despite everything, the hypothesis of a world without police convinces no one. “It’s the only moment when we realize that we actually like him!”quips Brice, sparking a general burst of laughter. “Already the law is not respected with the police, if there were none, it would be the jungle, the stampede, the war, Fortnite!”several of them approve in a joyful hubbub.

To conclude the evening, Daouda invites the young people to a final reflection. “VShow I can help you improve your relationship with law enforcement ?”he asks them, before dividing them into small groups. “We just have to organize a boxing class with them!”, says Brice, decidedly mischievous. Other ideas, less provocative, emerge little by little. Spend a day dressed in a uniform “to see what it does”organize a football tournament with the police, do role plays… There is no doubt that the president of Ajir notes all these proposals in a corner of his mind, before releasing the young people.

And to end the debate, Daouda invites them to vote in the legislative elections. In the middle of the creaking chairs, Brice offers himself one last jab: “Are you going to make us sandwiches for lunch and take us to the polling stations yourself on Sunday?” Daouda smiles, does not respond. No doubt he is already thinking about the number of wands he will have to buy.