The flock of “starlings” is systematic. As soon as the minivans arrive in procession in sight of the bars, young people, warned by shouts, come out of the halls and parking lots carrying their rickety chairs. The “resident dealers”, sometimes teenagers, evacuate the limits of the property. They go and do their business elsewhere, under other balconies, while the men and women in gray, wedged earpieces, tight bulletproof vests, inspect the corridors, the common areas, the technical cupboards, the boxes to letters whose door is not locked. The troop is careful to walk under the parapets. “You never know”, it is better to avoid the fall of various objects intended to greet their landing.
Despite appearances, the members of the “Alpha” team, which deploys in the corridors, or the “Charlie” team, on surveillance in the parking lot, near the dog handler and his malinois, are not policemen. They are the agents of the inter-district group of tranquility and safety (LODGING), a private company whose five Toulouse social landlords have decided to “pool” the services. They monitor 35 residences in the Pink City, thousands of apartments in all, including Mirail. Which, in addition to the telescopic baton and the tear gas canister, forces them to carry around huge bunches of keys with their color codes.
“It frees up space for us”
That day at Tintoretto, a “priority” building in Bellefontaine, the dealers complained about the principle but they ended up putting their chairs on the other side of the road. “They know we’re not here for narcotics,” slips Rémi Vincent, director of GITes. His concern is the cleanliness of the halls and the “tranquillity” of the inhabitants. The first point is checked, without concern, “no more sofas or rubbish” in the common areas, even if in the heights, the lamps of a corridor painted in red indicate a point of deal for the hour deserted. In terms of tranquility, apart from this inhabitant, who takes the trouble to shout “I’m not a chouf!” before descending the stairs, the tenants cordially greet the agents of the GITES and vice versa. Bernadette Yépé, president of the “Lien horizons danse” association, which has a permanent office at Tintoretto, even greets them enthusiastically at the end of the afternoon. “Fortunately they are here! she assures. Because when they arrive at that time, it’s also the time when we welcome groups of children for homework help. They can pass and return safely, it frees up our spaces and they don’t see the show”.
A few minutes later, new landing in another residence, more “hot”, a little less clean too. And even polite exit of the dealers, even younger. Not only do they say hello, but they clean up. “You can take that too please,” says the group leader firmly. An order is passed between the young trafficker and his sidekick. And hop, here is the old coffee maker, strangely fallen at the moment of a window, lined up at the foot of the recycling container. “As long as we are there, they know that they have to pick up their things,” explains the retired gendarme who has not departed from his authority. And otherwise ? “Otherwise we will go more often and longer”. The GITeS can arrive at any time, from 4 p.m. to midnight. And while he’s there, “the bubble of tranquility” is operational.
HP about to drop
Since March 1, Toulouse agents are the only ones from a private company in France who can also issue fines. As long as it is linked to the degradation of the building, therefore in the vein of wild deposits, jets of garbage or urine, spitting. But in about ten days, none of the sworn agents has yet taken out the counterfoil book. There was no incivility in flag. But Morgane, a group leader passed by the police, is convinced that the opportunity will soon arise. “After a while, you also have to go through repression,” she says. She thinks in particular of the wrecks that litter certain car parks and “the tenants who pay for their place” forced to rub shoulders with them. This “former” GITeS ended up in the emergency room last week, hit by a stone thrown by a young drunkard whom she asked to pick up rubbish. However, she is not worried about a rise in tension at the first PV. She knew four years ago, the time when the dealers did not fly right away, then that of the house dog handlers. She knows that with “explanations”, the “residential security officers” will be able to continue to reassure the inhabitants. And to hand over when needed.
That day, in the second residence, the evacuation took place too quickly. There was a bag of cannabis left in an electrical closet. A police patrol from the Specialized Field Squad (BST) came to pick him up. The GîTes went to create another bubble for it, at the foot of another bar.