Blue everywhere. The July 14 festivities take place in a particular context, just days after the wave of urban riots that followed the death of young Nahel in Nanterre. Admittedly, calm has now returned, but the damage toll is considerable. To avoid new overflows, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced that a “reinforced security device” will be deployed on the occasion of the national holiday. No less than 130,000 “police, gendarmes and firefighters” will be mobilized between July 13 and 15. In the Lille metropolis, the means implemented will be just staggering.
The riots did not spare the Lille metropolis, in particular Roubaix, Tourcoing or even Mons-en-Barœul, where the town hall and the national police station were set on fire. Since then, the prefect has temporarily prohibited individuals from buying and transporting pyrotechnic equipment and professionals from selling it. More than 4,000 firework mortars have since been seized, nearly half of them from a resident of Roubaix. And if some municipalities have canceled their July 14 fireworks, others have maintained the show, in particular Lille. In any case, and over the next two nights, the forces of order will be on the bridge.
Men on the ground, eyes in the sky
In Lille, and in the municipalities most affected by the riots (Roubaix, Tourcoing, Wattrelos, etc.), the local workforce will be reinforced in terms of men and resources. For the night of 13 to 14, this represents 160 additional police and gendarmes and 200 for the following night. CRS, mobile gendarmes and, as we saw during the riots, Raid men.
In addition to the men, the prefect will mobilize heavy material resources. Drones, a gendarmerie helicopter, armored vehicles and two police water launchers. This same system will be renewed, and even reinforced, for the night of July 14 to 15.