Two police officers from the Aubagne anti-crime brigade were sentenced Friday in Marseille to six months suspended prison sentence for violence committed on a 15-year-old teenager.
On January 18, 2020, in an empty parking lot in a shopping center, a group of young people fled when an unmarked car arrived with four men on board that they did not identify as police officers. During a chase, the victim, a 15-year-old boy, ended up kneeling and kicked before raising his arms and saying, “I do whatever you want”.
One of the police officers then answered him with comments of a sexual nature and, in the car where he had been forced to get into, the police officer had launched to the teenager: “We are taking you to Cassis and you are going to jump off course. Canaille ”, a very high cliff. “Now you’re going to work for us” or “I’ll put a hood on you, I’ll give you a gun and you’ll shoot McDonald’s for us,” officials also told him.
” The fear of his life “
The young victim who confessed to having had the fear of his life had come to understand that he was with the police when he saw a walkie-talkie. It had been dropped off in the parking lot.
The two defendants contested the threatening and humiliating remarks while acknowledging the shortcomings such as not having used the flashing light in the pursuit or police armbands. They had not drawn up an intervention report or checked the identity of the minor either.
Watching the video surveillance in court showed that neither of the two defendants was the author of the kick, attributed by the court in its judgment to one of their colleagues who was not prosecuted.
“Intimidate and impress the victim”
“These acts characterize many violence”, noted the court, according to which “the behavior [des policiers] had the effect of intimidating and impressing the victim, a 15-year-old teenager, especially since the events took place at night and in an isolated place ”.
Believing that the defendants “exceeded the prerogatives of their function and frightened a minor for no reason”, the court noted nevertheless that this slippage constituted “an isolated act in their professional career”. This is the reason why the conviction will not be entered in bulletin number 2 of their criminal records.