While new calls to demonstrate against the far right have been launched for this weekend, union representatives fear that the police will be faced with a deterioration in the social climate and an increase in excesses in the weeks to come, on the eve of the exceptional mobilization required by the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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“ The rope hasn’t broken yet, fortunately, but will it break? It’s a fear. » Eric Henry, national delegate of Alliance, who is part of the majority union bloc in the police, is worried. The observation is not new, but unanimous among the unions: the police are faced with a “ security tunnel almost uninterrupted since 2015 “, with waves of attacks and a continuing terrorist threat, a succession of large-scale social movements (Yellow vestspension reforms, riots of 2023) or even the organization of major sporting events.
“ It should be remembered that since last March and the attack in Moscow, the Vigipirate plan is once again at its maximum level, with the cuts or postponement of rest time that this entails. Added to this, in May, was the situation in New Caledonia which continues to mobilize numerous staff. Without forgetting the international context which also undermines the country, with the tensions linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict or the multiplication of attempts at Russian interference against a backdrop of war in Ukraine » indicates Christophe Miette, national secretary of the SCSI-CFDT, the majority union of national police executives.
“Chronic fatigue”
For these representatives, the effects of this “ over-demand » are already visible: chronic fatigue among many civil servants, heavy “ collateral damages » about their private life and a “ growing dissonance between the image that colleagues have when entering this profession and daily experience “. A feeling essentially due to “ the dangerousness of the profession which continues to increase with the increase in violence against the police who are not sufficiently punished » says Eric Henry.
Fight against the increase in anti-Semitic acts, domestic violence, traffic offenses… “ According to the news, everything becomes a priority and we count on the police to solve all the ills of society while their number is not expandable » he laments. The trade unionist says he notices a “ Fed up », illustrated, according to him, by the increase in the number of resignations. And to cite a report from the Court of Auditors from April 2023 which identifies a 33% increase in departures within the police over the last four years, a figure which even seemed underestimated, according to this body.
Fears of a deterioration of the social climate
However, since the announcement of the historic breakthrough of the National Rally in the European elections and then the dissolution of the National Assembly, demonstrations against the far right have taken place daily in several cities in France, without major incident. But excesses and damage have been recorded in particular in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon and Nantes, point out the unionists.
“ Today, we are facing political instability almost unprecedented under the Fifth Republic. », Estimates Eric Henry. “ When we see the pressure that has already mounted in the streets after the announcement of the results to the Europeans, we can fear that the upcoming election will accentuate the unease and the social divide, and that we, police officers, will find ourselves once again, at the in the middle of it all, on the front line “.
A fear shared by Christophe Miette. “ If political discontent can of course be legitimately expressed in the streets “, he emphasizes, “ we also know the propensity of groups linked to the extremes, on the left and on the right, to seek confrontation, groups which can also be exploited or infiltrated from the outside, with pro-Russian black blocks for example “. Hence the existence, according to the trade unionist, “ a risk of excesses and violence around these electoral deadlines, a risk of a snowball effect, like what we experienced at the end of the Yellow Vest movement. »
“For the moment, it’s holding up”
Beyond maintaining order, the organization of elections will de facto require the use of staff to secure polling stations, and upstream, for the registration of proxies in police stations. However, this unforeseen campaign comes at a time when many police officers were supposed to take a break before the Olympic Games, during which taking leave was prohibited by the Ministry of the Interior.
Christophe Miette therefore fears that “ colleagues in the field arrive in a state of extreme fatigue widespread at the Olympic Games “. “ Of coursehe adds, financial compensation has been negotiated, but money is not everything. And in a job where you can have to make crucial decisions in a fraction of a second, you need to have a clear mind. ” Nevertheless, ” for the moment, it’s holding », affirms Eric Henry, “ because the police officers have a strong sense of commitment and will continue to do their job with self-sacrificenot “.
No consequences for Olympic security
Finally, could a change of majority have consequences for the security of the Olympic Games, particularly in the event of a change of Minister of the Interior? No, say the two union representatives who emphasize that the security plans have been in place for a long time.
“ This will have no operational consequences. The strength of the institution guarantees the solidity of the systems », indicates Christophe Miette, before adding “ It is difficult to imagine a minister, whatever his label, who does not have the intelligence to keep the team directors in place, and in particular the prefect of Paris who is at the heart of the system, at least until the end of the Games. To change everything would be unconscious. »