Directly connected to the Urban Supervision Center (CSU), 1,400 boxes now equip schools, shops, municipal buildings and even places of worship in the city.
Le Figaro Nice
Since the terrorist attack on the Notre-Dame de l’Assomption basilica on October 29, 2020, in Nice, the municipality has drastically reinforced security around and in places of worship. At the request of some clerics, emergency buttons have been installed in several churches in the city. Their activation allows municipal police officers from the Urban Supervision Center (CSU) to hear what is happening in real time, to automatically aim the cameras placed around the area concerned and to intervene quickly in the event of proven danger.
“It is obviously something reassuring for us in view of past events”, points out Father Franklin Parmentier, of the Notre-Dame Basilica, between two confessions. The latter believes that he or the other clerics of the basilica have used the device at least six times this year. “It happens that we are dealing with individuals with particularly suspicious or even aggressive behavior. It’s quite rare, but if you feel the danger, you don’t hesitate to presshe continues. The alert button is now part of the environment of the basilica.
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A device that also benefits schools and nurseries (2 boxes per establishment), colleges, high schools, universities, administrative sites open to the public, cultural sites, hospitals, or even nursing homes. Merchants can also apply for it free of charge. 257 of them have it today in Nice. “For us it was logical to take advantage of it. We didn’t even ask the question. It gives us additional security.remarks the manager of a bicycle shop, located on rue d’Italie. “We don’t have the alert button yet but we have taken the steps and we are looking forward to it. We sometimes have to deal with very violent customers, especially verbally, and the rapid intervention of the municipal police is not unavoidable in this kind of situation.abounds the manager of a ready-to-wear shop on avenue Jean Médecin.
“I don’t want to add to the permanent anxiety”
“I don’t see the point of it at all. There are already warning terminals in the street. And then I’ve been in the neighborhood for 30 years, if I have a problem, my neighbors turn up!”, considers on the other hand a pharmacist of the avenue Georges Clemenceau, who refuses to equip himself with the device. “I think we have to watch, be careful. But I don’t want to add to the permanent anxiety,” also defended himself on his side, Father Gil Florini, parish priest of the Saint-Pierre-d’Arène church, questioned on Monday by nice morning.
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Experimented and tested since November 2015, first in Nice schools and businesses, the 1400 alert boxes have been triggered 1457 times since the beginning of the year, including 210 times for proven facts, indicates to the Figaro the municipality. This is about 200 times more than last year. This tool has also been supplemented since November 2019 by 244 emergency call terminals distributed in the streets of the city, particularly in high-traffic areas. These operate in the same way and are directly connected to the CSU. Still according to figures from the town hall, these were triggered 4,412 times from January 1 to October 31, including 326 times for proven facts.
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