The setting is bare: an abandoned car dealership in Noisy-le-Grand (Seine-Saint-Denis), which has become a place of training for private security professions, from security guard to close protection agent, including video surveillance. There are porticos useful for search and palpation exercises, tatami mats for reviewing the basics of self-defense, and school desks. “Those who talk to me about Thai boxing, I calm them down from the start. The legal framework does not allow people to be touched in any way”says Mike, who did not wish to give his name like the other people interviewed, a former police officer working at Nouvel R, both a school and a private security company.
The initial training of agents is little focused on physical force, they mainly learn articles of the internal security code, notions of first aid, There Marseillaise – the anthem is tacked up in class. This is one of the changes brought about by the “global security” law of 2021 modifying the rules of access to private security professions, and in particular the obligation for foreigners to have had a residence permit for at least five years. “This law created a mess, we lost a lot of people”says Serdar Yergin, founder of the SME.
On the eve of the Olympic Games, there is an urgent need to fill the ranks: 17,000 agents will be needed on the ground every day on average. In Ile-de-France, the sector is encouraged by the government, which has invested to support it in recruitment and training. Arnaud, 22, went through an “electronic system” baccalaureate, a period of wandering, then a second chance school in Créteil. There are filled “lots of multiple choice questions” to orient themselves, until choosing safety last summer. The local mission was responsible for registering for prevention and safety agent training: four weeks followed by one week to obtain the first level of fire safety.
Post-baccalaureate years without real direction
“I expected to be surrounded by mirrored cabinets. It’s more varied than that”, remarks the young man, sitting in a class of eleven students, including three women. Arnaud is “realistic”: “What awaits us is to be at the security headquarters and do rounds. Obviously I would like to earn more than the minimum wage, but that’s not bad for this task. »
At his side, Mouhnir, 26, has the ambition to join the state’s close protection. He arrived in the sector inspired by a friend seen in an event agent costume on Snapchat this summer, “I found it classy”. Mounir completed a DUT in data sciences, interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and never resumed. “Afterwards, I did everything: delivery, inventory, ramp agent at the airport… I can’t stand this lack of stability anymore. »
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