“We note an increase in violence against local elected officials of 12 to 13% this year,” deplores the president of the Association of Mayors of France

After the attack on a mayor in Avignon, Philippe Laurent calls for “stronger criminal responses” when an elected official is attacked.

“We note an increase in violence against local elected officials of 12 to 13% this year”deplores the president of the Association of Mayors of France on franceinfo on Sunday December 24, after the attack on a mayor in Avignon on Saturday December 23.

“Concern is growing among all local elected officials”, “since we will be at nearly 2,600 attacks at the end of the year”, deplores Philippe Laurent (UDI, center right), vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France, on franceinfo this Sunday. After the attack on the various left-wing mayor of Péage-de-Roussillon, André Mondange in Avignon in Vaucluse on the night of Thursday to Friday, the vice-president of the AMF calls for “stronger criminal responses”And “faster”.

Philippe Laurent would first like to express his “solidarity” towards his attacked colleague. According to him, “it is clear that André Mondange was attacked for his role as mayor, since that is what the attackers told him”. The mayor of Péage-de-Roussillon was wearing a tricolor cockade at the time of his attack.

“We note an increase in violence against local elected officials of 12 to 13% this year”deplores Philippe Laurent, after an increase in “30% in 2022, compared to the previous year”.

“We are really on an upward slope which can only worry us. When we attack an elected official, it is also the Republic that we attack,”

Philippe Laurent, vice-president of the Association of Mayors of France

at franceinfo

“All mayors are targeted, which suggests that we really have a subject on authority”adds the vice-president of the AMF.

An acceleration of the criminal response

Just like the president of the association of rural mayors of France, Philippe Laurent calls for “stronger criminal responses” : “We ask that mayors be treated like police officers, magistrates… Like all people representing authority, for whom the penalties are heavier in the event of an attack”.

Philippe Laurent welcomes the establishment of training for elected officials, in conjunction with the national gendarmerie, to learn how to react “when faced with an annoyed person”.

For him, there are two avenues left to work on. First of all, “an acceleration of the criminal response, with regard to individuals who engage in physical violence against elected officials of the Nation.” Then, “a long-term path” : the education of the youngest, with the teaching of “civic education from elementary school”.

The safety of local elected officials was also the subject at the heart of the last French mayors’ congress, in November 2023 in Paris.