This is the new Interior gadget. Afterwards, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region or even Bordeaux, it’s the turn of the Upper Garonne to use drones to “fight against urban rodeos” until July 18 in 14 municipalities identified by the prefecture. This measure responds to the requests of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, to use aircraft equipped with cameras to maintain order and prevent “attacks on the safety of persons and property”. Request sent at the end of April by SMS to the prefects demanding to multiply “presence operations to fight against urban rodeos”.
20 minutes takes stock as the use of drones by the police remains criticized and the Council of State examined this sensitive issue on Tuesday.
How it works ?
Thanks to these drones equipped with cameras, the security forces will be able to benefit from a wide-angle view in order to be able to quickly identify and prevent the risk of an incident, while limiting the engagement of forces on the ground. This use is authorized only on the route of these events and their surroundings, and only for the duration of these gatherings. The capture of images cannot be permanent; it remains prohibited to capture sound, to use facial recognition and to carry out automated reconciliations with other processing of personal data, according to the interior ministry.
In Haute-Garonne, in Toulouse, geographical perimeters have been delimited in the national police zone: Empalot, Arènes or Faourette. The gendarmerie, for its part, will be able to use drones in districts of several municipalities such as Labège, Aussonne, Balma or Muret. Drones will thus be launched into the sky to monitor these sectors at specific times.
Is it really useful?
According to the Haute-Garonne prefecture, “every spring, a resurgence of urban rodeos is observed in the department, causing accidents, increasing the feeling of insecurity among residents, users and shopkeepers in these neighborhoods and generating noise pollution. considerable. These dangerous behaviors occur over very large areas, and the meeting places are often kept secret until the last minute by their organizers. In addition, the distances traveled can sometimes be significant. “These different characteristics make it particularly difficult to prevent and repress this phenomenon of aggressive privatization of public space by the police”, explains the prefect in order to justify the use of surveillance drones. In the endbe more efficient and have eyes everywhere (within a limited perimeter all the same).
In 2022, more than 16,000 operations and 2,200 arrests linked to urban rodeos were recorded. A significant rebound since the Covid-19 and the confinements, still according to the Ministry of the Interior, which denounces the dangerousness of these events. This device being new, the assessment can only be made at the end of this first test to really know its usefulness.
Why can this be a problem?
If the use of drones is strictly regulated, since the publication of the decree authorizing its use, this surveillance device for demonstrations and other events is particularly denounced. The Council of State looked into this sensitive issue on Tuesday at the request of the Association for the Defense of Constitutional Freedoms (Adelico), in order to urgently suspend the decree of April 19 allowing the use of these small remote-controlled aircraft. .
For the applicant association, this decree “by its very existence carries considerable infringements of the right to respect for private life, the right to the protection of personal data, the freedom to come and go and the freedom to demonstrate “.
What are the penalties incurred?
Recall that since the entry into force of the law of August 3, 2018, the practice of urban rodeo has gone from a violation of the Highway Code to an offense punishable by one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros. The penalty can increase to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros in the event of practice “in a meeting”, three years and 40,000 euros if the perpetrators have consumed alcohol, narcotics or drive without a license. Five years and 75,000 euros if two of these reasons are met.
The sentence can also be supplemented by a suspension of the driving license for a maximum of three years, community service and “the confiscation of the vehicle”.