While Nantes and its agglomeration have just experienced a week marked by several cases of violence (rape of a woman in the middle of the street, a police officer injured during a refusal to comply, a boy shot and injured in Nantes and another killed in Saint-Herblain), the question of safety remains significant. With in particular the question of video protection cameras which is still debated.
Soon six cities in the Nantes metropolitan area will be connected to the CSU
In Nantes, on her arrival in 2014 at the town hall, the socialist Johanna Rolland made the choice to install cameras on the public highway. On this mandate, it is planned to enlarge the park -150 today in Nantes- at the rate of 30 per year. In 2018, creation of a CSU, an urban surveillance center where the images from the cameras land. There are also those of Saint-Herblain, Rezé, Vertou, Basse-Goulaine, and at the beginning of next year, those of La Chapelle-sur-Erdre. “We have about 200 cameras”noted Catherine Ménétré, the manager of this urban surveillance center. For security reasons, the address of the CSU remains secret.
On the first floor of a building, a room with offices and computers and at the back of this room a huge wall with many TV screens. On these TVs scroll the images of the cameras. That morning, three operators scrutinize these thumbnails, move from one area to another, via a command that resembles those in video games. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, there are always several operators. They are former police, gendarmerie or come from the security professions, who know the map of the city perfectly. They demonstrate great concentration but also total discretion because they work with confidential data. Today, the CSU has 15 operators. They will soon be 19. With more means put in the afternoon, in the evening, at night, more sensitive periods.
Cameras useful for example in the investigation of the cathedral fire
“The first mission is obviously to observe the public space and identify events that may cause concern – thefts, assaults, etc. – and to warn the police”, emphasizes Catherine Ménétré. There are also the requests for information that the police make either for a flagrante delicto or after the fact to have elements for the investigation. Since the creation of the CSU, there have been 2,300 requisitions for judicial investigations.
Camera, networks, 8 million euros have been invested in this CSU. Not to mention the annual million for its operation. Too expensive, not effective enough for its detractors. Catherine Ménétré highlights key facts about Nantes where these images were decisive. During the cathedral fire in 2020 or even ten days ago to arrest the alleged perpetrators of the rape of a woman on the island of Nantes. “It is not my word, but that of the DDSP, the departmental director of public security, which tells us that today the image is as important as the DNA”continues Catherine Ménétré.
When asked if more cameras are needed, she replies that “on video protection, we are clearly in a development phase at the City of Nantes. On the other hand, we cannot ask video protection what we do not ask of other institutions. It is essential, but on condition that you have the police to arrest and also justice to punish.”
Images from video protection are kept for 30 days “and when an operator zooms in on a private space, pixelations automatically appear, so we don’t have images of the interior of buildings.” Catherine Ménétré specifies that in addition to what is provided for by law, the city of Nantes has set up an ethics committee made up of supporters and opponents of this system to check at any time whether the rules are respected.