The indictment overnight from Thursday to Friday of four police officers from the Anti-Crime Squad, one of whom was placed in pre-trial detention, arouses anger in the profession.
This Friday, discontent continues to mount among the Marseille police. The previous night, four police officers were indicted for violence in meetings and one of them was remanded in custody. The latter are suspected of having beaten a young man in Marseille on the sidelines of the riots that ignited France in early July.
Contesting this incarceration, which they consider abusive, many police officers have filed sick leave.
“A professional burnout”
This is the case of a civil servant, in service for more than 20 years, met by BFM Marseille Provence. In his service, more than 90% of the police are stationary.
“Today we feel a sense of betrayal. We were sent during these riotous nights to the war, because there are no other words to define what we experienced. We had never seen that, “explains the professional wishing to remain anonymous.
The provisional detention of one of his colleagues is a difficult decision for him to understand. “The answer we have is to send the police to prison,” he laments.
The official believes that the sick leave taken is not linked only to the dispute. He also claims “professional burnout”.
Many services involved
In Marseille, several services are affected by this wave of sick leave: the anti-crime brigades, the specialized field brigades, the local security groups, the security and intervention company, not to mention the police-rescue services.
For the time being, no figures have been communicated, but according to the unions, more than 200 people are arrested.
“Today they are totally disillusioned, disgusted. It brought out a certain uneasiness in them which pushed them to be burnt out. And today, they prefer to rest quietly at home, to reflect on the rest of their career”, explains Rudy Manna, departmental secretary Alliance Police of Bouches-du-Rhône, at the microphone of BFM Marseille Provence.
He believes that today the police “have more chance of ending up in prison than of having medals”.
A thought shared by Sébastien Greneron, also a member of the Alliance Police union. “All the criteria for pre-trial detention, for us, were not met, he assures. So it is a movement of anger. You see all the police officers who are present. We are on the verge of capitulation. RMC.
An online kitty created to support the police
This movement could be amplified according to the unions. The SGP Police FO unit union calls on its members to minimum service after the indictment of the four Marseille BAC police officers.
Contacted, the police prefecture affirms that the national police continue to carry out their missions in the service of citizens, in particular emergency interventions.
In addition to protest, there is support. An online kitty has been created by the Amicale de la BAC Sud to financially help the families of the four police officers under investigation.