On Friday, the head of the judicial police for the south of France was dismissed from his post after a demonstration by the police. This decision aroused general indignation in the ranks of the PJ and in the judicial world.
Alliance, one of the main police unions, and Unsa-Police asked Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Saturday for a “appeasement decisionin the face of the protest aroused by the reform of the judicial police and the day after the ousting of the head of the PJ from the southern zone. “This reform arouses rejection: we must therefore stop this spiral which risks digging a worrying and destructuring gap within our police house“Write the two unions in a joint press release sent to AFP.
This “reform raises too many unanswered questions and its merits are not established“Add the organizations, without calling for the withdrawal of the project.
They are asking Minister Darmanin “a quick appeasement decision“, in order to “return to real trading ground” on this topic “whose impact (structural and human) within the judicial police must no longer be neglected“.
The two unions, united for several weeks within a single “block” union in view of the professional elections at the end of the year, also reiterate their request for a “moratorium“, already claimed in early September.
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Risk of a “race to the bottom”
Friday, Éric Arella, the head of the judicial police for the south of France, was dismissed from his post, the day after an action by his troops against the reform of the PJ.
This decision aroused general indignation in the ranks of the PJ and in the judicial world. In protest, hundreds of investigators from all over France gathered outside their services on Friday afternoon.
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The reform project plans to place all police services at the department level – intelligence, public security, border police (PAF) and judicial police (PJ) – under the authority of a single Departmental Director of Police national (DDPN), dependent on the prefect.
The opponents of this project denounce the risk of a “leveling down» of the PJ and a reinforcement of the weight of the prefect in the investigations.