Nice police patrol restaurant tables a few minutes before the 9 p.m. curfew on June 7, 2021 – E. Martin / ANP / 20 Minutes
- Last day of control at 9 p.m. for the Nice police teams, in two days, the curfew passes to 11 p.m.
- Restaurant owners respect the rules, “they are used to it and they do not want to risk being sanctioned”, indicates Florence Gavello, functional division commander.
- It is more the customers who are “the problem”.
“We are going for a walk on the Cours Saleya and around the beaches”, announces to his teammates Captain William, who manages the night command of the national police in Nice. Monday evening, that is to say two days before the shift of the curfew from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., he left on patrol with four staff of the Specialized Field Brigade (BST) after having made “a video point” to “see the places at high density ”.
It is 8:30 p.m. on Cours Saleya, the main pedestrian street in Old Nice. Bars and restaurants follow one another. “Everything that was pretty much will automatically work out with the simple fact of seeing us,” said the captain, advancing towards managers where the tables were still occupied five minutes before the start of the cover. -fire.
“At 8:58 p.m., there is no one left”
At the Babel Babel on the Quai des Etats-Unis, customers have been hanging around after 9 p.m. has struck for a good ten minutes. The opportunity for William and his teammates to indicate the amount of the fine they risk, 135 euros, while recalling the responsibilities of the manager. The latter ensures that he does not play but he needs “his livelihood”. “The organization is difficult, especially since it lasts three weeks. It’s hard to frustrate clients because without them I no longer work, especially after eight months of being closed. With the curfew at 11 p.m., we will have more flexibility to manage. “
The police are used to ‘excuses’. “If it is not the problems of credit card machines, we are shown those opposite who do the same thing”, indicates one of the members of the brigade.
At Les 3 Diables, Didier has already seen the brigade pass through his establishment three times since the reopening. “In two days, two nights, it will be better already,” he says, thinking of the next step of deconfinement. They come to put pressure on us but on the other side, on the Promenade des Anglais, there are 350 people to manage. We, at 8:58 p.m., there is no one left. “
Reinforcements in the face of the population density on the beach
Exactly, on the other side, on the Promenade des Anglais and the beach, there are indeed “more than 200 people” who seem to want to “extend the party”. To evacuate the scene, William calls two municipal police crews as reinforcements as well as a rescue police crew. From the first steps on the pebbles, the brigade comes across a person who seems unconscious, an empty whiskey bottle a few inches from her. While another team takes care of clearing the beach, William will manage the emergency.
“People deport themselves to the beach when the bars close but do not come empty-handed. These are drinks they pay less so they consume more. If she had had to pay for each drink, I’m not sure she would have been like this, ”he comments.
While waiting for the firefighters and the evacuation, the municipal agents made everyone leave the seaside. “It’s easier when you go there early, when there is not yet too much alcohol”, specifies one of them. At 10 p.m., the targeted axes are then emptied, the person in an ethyl coma was taken care of and put out of danger, and no verbalizations were drawn up. For William, “it will be complicated from Wednesday”.