We wish you never to see them. Yet, every day, every night, these narrow concrete cells house men and women whom the police must hear. Located on the ground floor of the central police station of the Tour-d’Auvergne, in Rennes, the jails are used to lock up those who are in police custody. They stay there most of the time for twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the time to be heard by the investigators. They sometimes come out free or cross the street to be presented to a magistrate within the walls of the district court. Regardless of the outcome, the cells of the police station leave a bitter memory to all who pass through them.
Monday, January 2, it is the new president of the bar of Rennes who visited the premises, after a passage to the prison of Vezin. Catherine Glon came out shocked, indignant. “It’s maddening to have such conditions, it’s a shame. I’ve heard about it for years but the situation persists. It’s insane, ”laments the lawyer. “It’s bad smelling, cold. I can’t even imagine when there are twenty people locked up here, ”sums up Sylvie Robert, the socialist senator who accompanied the lawyer.
“Conditions are pitiful”
We were not able to visit the jails but we asked several police officers accustomed to the places to describe them to us. “The conditions are pitiful, it’s disgusting,” says one of them. “It’s very dilapidated and it smells a bit of sheet metal,” explains another.
The problem is not new and has often been denounced, in particular by police unions and lawyers. Some complain about their degraded working conditions, others appeal to the dignity of their clients, whom they like to point out as presumed innocent. “The police station is 40 years old. It was inaugurated by Gaston Defferre (December 22, 1981) who was then Minister of the Interior under François Mitterrand. And the jails have never been renovated. You imagine ? asks commissioner Luca Togni. “So yes, there are problems with heating, ventilation, lighting. The conditions are not good”.
Each cell will have a toilet
This summer, a report from the controller general of places of deprivation of liberty had already pinned down the cells of the Tour d’Auvergne. The good news is that they will be restored, assures the director of public security. “I had requested it in a report in July 2021. The administration became aware of the problem. But between the release of funding and the awarding of public contracts, time passes. Luca Togni promises that all the cells will be refurbished by 2026 for an estimated amount of one million euros. “Each cell will have a toilet inside. And a shower will be fitted out for two cells”.
The problem is that we will still have to wait at least three years. Three years where the dilapidated premises will still rub off on the security conditions of the agents. And on the conditions of detention of those in custody, who often have to share a cell that is already not very big for one person. “There is no toilet so every time a guy wants to pee, you have to take him out, accompany him,” laments Frédéric Gallet, departmental secretary of the Alliance union. At the time of relieving himself, the detainee discovers with joy squat toilets at the end of the 1970s. Some report that this trip in time has cut them off.
In 2022, more than 31,000 people passed through the central police station in Rennes, for a total of 9,300 complaints. A figure that has exploded, in particular due to the demographic pressure of the metropolis.