When she starts her work day at 6:45 a.m. sharp, Caroline* knows that the day will be like another marathon. Between the walls of the Perpignan remand center (Pyrénées-Orientales), this 38-year-old prison supervisor has the delicate task of waking up the prisoners sleeping in the 18 cells of the passageway which she takes care of. “The problem is that at the moment there are three of them in cells designed for two maximum,” breathes the young woman, annoyed. “Two sleep in a bunk bed, and the other on a mattress on the floor in a room of 9 square meters. You can imagine the atmosphere”. To search the premises, check that the bars have not been sawn off during the night or take a look at the maintenance of the cell, the supervisor has no choice but to step over the mattress of the cell. one of the prisoners. “From the morning, it can create tension or generate insults”.
Once the first inmates are up, Caroline then takes them in small groups to the four showers upstairs, which must be taken from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. “Between 45 and 50 have to go there. The walk starts at 8:15 a.m., so some sometimes have to choose between taking a shower or getting some fresh air. Again, the tension is mounting.” All morning, the supervisor must manage the comings and goings between the walk, the visiting room, the school or the infirmary, distribute the meals, make sure that the disputes do not degenerate. “They are twice as many as they should be, so we have twice as much work,” she sums up. His conclusion is clear. “Currently, there is no place for the fight against recidivism or reintegration in prison. The guards open and close doors, trying to hold on. That’s all”. With a prison density rate estimated at 204.6% on November 1, the Perpignan penitentiary center is one of the most populated establishments in France. And its supervisors are not the only ones to have to adapt. to an ever-increasing population of prisoners.
Staff “overwhelmed, understaffed, tired”
According statistics from the Ministry of Justice, the number of detainees in France exceeded a record level in November 2022, with 72,809 detainees for 60,698 operational places – i.e. a prison density of 120%, compared to 115.4% in the same period in 2021. In certain establishments , this figure explodes: 215.6% prison density in Carcassonne for the month of November 2022, 214.5% in Nîmes, 206.6% in Bordeaux-Gradignan, 204.6% in Perpignan, 203.1% in Foix , or 200.9% for the Majicavo prison center in Mayotte. In January 2020, this overcrowding was already deemed “structural” by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which then condemned France for inhuman and degrading treatment within its prison establishments, and for non-respect of the law. to an effective remedy to put an end to these violations.
Almost three years later, the prison guards interviewed by L’Express all share the same feeling: since this conviction, nothing has really changed on the ground. “Staff are overwhelmed, understaffed, tired. The number of prisoners continues to increase, while that of guards is stagnating,” laments Wilfried Fonck, national secretary of the Ufap/Unsa Justice union. By including the prospects of retirement and the almost constant increase in the number of prisoners, the man estimates that there would be a lack of “between 3000 and 4000” prison guards in France. “Basically, it’s already not a job that attracts. But the working conditions of recent months, intimately linked to the conditions of detention, do not help,” he summarizes.
After 28 years in the prison administration, Thierry’s optimism hangs by a thread. “Right now things are getting really difficult from a psychological point of view.” Supervisor at the Carcassonne remand center, he conscientiously lists the number of daily clashes, motivated by situations a priori banal. An argument between a smoking prisoner and a non-smoker, a tension between a prisoner who eats pork and one who doesn’t, a fight over a clogged toilet that cannot be repaired immediately, a television that does not doesn’t work anymore, things that are badly arranged, a cell that hasn’t been cleaned much… “Very quickly, it can degenerate. They can insult and attack each other, or attack us directly”, says Thierry.
“No more room for manoeuvre”
Recently, the forties and other colleagues had to control an inmate who refused to submit to a search, after he was asked to wait to go to the infirmary – itself overwhelmed. “He wanted to force his way through, he had to be handcuffed, then taken to the disciplinary unit. You manage people, they feel that we are overloaded, that we are everywhere and nowhere at the same time” , regrets Thierry. Pierre Journet, Ufap local secretary at the Carcassonne remand center, can only confirm. “When you have 140 detainees instead of 60, you no longer have any room for manoeuvre.” A few weeks ago, this prison supervisor with a 30-year career went to file a complaint with the police station for death threats in the exercise of his functions. “I refused an exit to an inmate, who is used to having things passed to him more easily. He told me that he knew the license plate of my car, that he would meet me outside… This kind about, accompanied by all kinds of insults”.
200 kilometers away, from the prison of Nîmes, Alain sighs. “Wherever you exercise, verbal aggression is every day”, explains this union representative, supervisor for 13 years. Last week again, he assures that 74 detainees slept on a mattress on the floor within the establishment. Results ? The staff, exhausted, regularly takes sick leave. “Those who remain must fill in the gaps, are called back on their days off or on vacation. We are holding on, because the establishment must continue to operate, whatever happens”. After 20 years in the business, and despite the insults “daily”, Caroline insists, however, that she does not intend to leave the prison world, nor let go of “her prisoners”. “There are still beautiful moments: I continue to think that we can be of use for something, to put them back In the right way”.
During the Covid, the supervisor worked in a smaller remand center, in Agen. The measures taken by the government to combat the spread of the epidemic in prisons had then drastically reduced the number of prisoners. “There was a real time of observation, much less tension… It’s this kind of rhythm that we would like to find, rather than playing Tetris to get everyone back in the cell”. In the meantime, unions and guards are awaiting the presentation of the plan for Justice resulting from the Estates General – postponed until January for “calendar reasons” -, in which the situation of chronic overcrowding in prisons should be mentioned by Eric Dupond-Moretti.
*Name has been changed.