This is, according to our information, a major dysfunction within the police station of Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis). The police officer Arnaud B., main suspect of a feminicide and on the run, had been bringing his service weapon for months to his home, completely illegally.
On January 28, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, Arnaud B.’s companion, Amanda Glain, was found dead in her bathroom with strangulation marks. Since then, the man has not been found, and armed: he has in his possession his service weapon, a 9 mm pistol, and 30 ammunition.
However, he should never have found himself in possession of this weapon. In the spring of 2021, Arnaud B. indeed received an administrative sanction: he no longer has the right to carry his weapon outside his working hours. Clearly, he must systematically and imperatively put it back in the armory at the end of each day.
In theory, this ban is entered in software, present at the Blanc-Mesnil police station: Ares. It allows, among other things, to control the entry and exit of weapons but also to report a police officer prohibited from weapons, or having restrictions.
But in the case of Arnaud B., no prohibition or restriction appeared in Ares. This policeman, psychologically fragile, with a history of domestic violence, could therefore illegally bring his weapon home, or carry it on the street for months.
Why did this prohibition not appear in the Ares software? Did Arnaud B. ask one of his superiors “to erase” this sanction? Did his hierarchy cover it? According to a police source, these mentions would have been deleted by a member of the hierarchy of the police station. An IGPN investigation is underway and several police officers from the Blanc-Mesnil police station will be interviewed.
A sign of growing embarrassment, the Commissioner of Blanc-Mesnil issued a memo on February 1, which we were able to consult. He points to “imperfections in the administrative management of individual weapons”. It also recalls, in bold text, the importance “to ensure restrictions on the movement of weapons: ban on leaving, obligation to deposit at the end of the session”.
Contacted, the police headquarters assures France Télévisions that an internal investigation has been opened. From a source familiar with the matter, this investigation concerns “internal malfunctions”, without further details.