Young killed in a brawl in Paris: “There is a security problem in France, we cannot escape it”

On the night of Friday to Saturday in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, a teenager was killed with a knife. It was during a brawl that broke out in the early evening that the young man was attacked. Rescuers were unable to save the 16-year-old boy who was shot in the abdomen. The investigation is moving towards a clash between rival gangs. Conflicts with dramatic ends that increasingly worry local figures. This is the case of Geoffroy Boulard, mayor of the 17th arrondissement, who deplores the lack of means to fight against this phenomenon.

A call to “listen to local elected officials”

“There is a security problem in Paris and in France, we cannot escape it”, estimates the elected official. On the side of his district, this results in particular in a lack of means. “We lost 15% of staff at the police station of 17th arrondissement in five years. I asked for more video protection means and more human means on the ground, in these neighborhoods which feel abandoned and where the republican authority must be reaffirmed.

Very serious event, dramatic and criminal boulevard Berthier #Paris17 where I went tonight: a 16-year-old boy from the neighborhood was fatally stabbed by a gang.
We have broken hearts.
The investigation is entrusted to the 1st DPJ. Justice, not violence! pic.twitter.com/mOhuuD5iJO

— Geoffroy Boulard (@geoffroyboulard) November 12, 2022

Geoffroy Boulard calls above all, today, to “listen to local elected officials”: “We are whistleblowers, we know the terrain, we are in contact with the inhabitants, we know the needs. When we say that there is a need for a camera, it is because there is a need for a camera. It is because there is an expectation from the inhabitants, because they have the feeling that their neighborhood is deteriorating and that ‘they don’t see the Republican police anymore. On Saturday, the mayor reacted to the teenager’s death on social networks, asking for “justice, not violence”.