The figure, unveiled Monday by the Minister of the Interior, gives the health authorities a cold sweat while the wave linked to the Omicron variant continues to grow: 182,000 false health passes have been generated since its inception this summer. To fight against this phenomenon, the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, asked the prefects meeting by videoconference the next day to strengthen controls, especially in bars and restaurants. An announcement that makes the first interested parties cringe.
“We are Republican police, we will follow instructions. But by adding priority missions to priority missions without increasing the staff, this risks posing a problem, ”deplores Stanislas Gaudon, of the Alliance police union. Especially since the period is particularly sensitive. The gatherings linked to the Christmas festivities, like the many markets, require enhanced security in the face of the terrorist threat. As for New Year’s Eve, it is traditionally a time of urban violence. “This mission will necessarily remain annex, estimates Thierry Clair, deputy secretary general of Unsa Police. Our core business remains investigating and fighting against damage to property and people. “
80,000 customers checked every week
At present, restaurateurs, bar, theater or cinema owners are required to ensure that their customers do indeed have a health pass but do not verify their identity. In short: if a person has “borrowed” the pass of his neighbor, impossible to know… unless a control of the police force. According to the Ministry of the Interior, around 80,000 customers are checked each week by the police and gendarmes, which corresponds to approximately 11,000 establishments open to the public. Insufficient in the eyes of the Prime Minister. “I am giving you a firm and personal instruction to control sanitary passes in restaurants,” insisted Jean Castex.
According to the entourage of the Minister of the Interior, instructions had already been passed in this direction last week to the directors general of the police and the gendarmerie. “Since the start of this health crisis, we have been the repressive arm of the government’s health policy,” deplores Stanislas Gaudon. This has been the case with attestation checks during lockdowns, the curfew. Now that’s the pass. “
Legislative amendment
To limit false passes and identity theft, some voices within the government are rising to demand that these checks can be carried out by restaurant owners. “This question will be addressed in the law”, indicated Tuesday morning Olivier Véran at the microphone of BFMTV, without specifying the content of these checks. “The application of health policy cannot rest solely on our shoulders,” says Thierry Clair. We can never be in front of all the bars or restaurants. “
But such a provision would require changing the law since at present, restaurateurs are not empowered to verify an identity … However, many of them do not want to be. “To each his own profession,” says Stanislas Gaudon. Already mentioned last summer when the health pass was introduced, it was finally abandoned.