Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin reported on Sunday 1er January, the absence of“significant incident” on New Year’s Eve, stating that the number of burnt cars had decreased by 20%. This “historic decline” burnt cars is explained according to Mr. Darmanin by “the very important presence of the gendarmes and the police”twelve months after a New Year “where there had already been fewer burnt vehicles”.
In detail, 690 vehicles would have been burned, against 874 in 2022, according to the press release from his ministry. This is confirmation, for the minister, of a “trend decline” of the phenomenon – 1,316 cars were affected in 2019.
Arrests up 11%
The number of arrests has increased: 490 people were arrested, against 441 in 2021, an increase of 11%. They “wanted to fire mortars at the police” Where “wanted to set cars on fire”some of which to make “insurance scams”lamented Gérald Darmanin from Mayotte, where he is visiting for two days. “The year 2022 thus becomes the year in which New Year’s Eve has the fewest burned vehicles and the most arrests”he summarized.
Some 90,000 police and gendarmes were mobilized for New Year’s Eve, compared to nearly 127,000 members of the security forces for the transition to 2022. In Paris, a million people gathered on the Champs-Elysées , where the traditional fireworks display was back after a two-year absence due to Covid-19.