residents angry in the face of permanent insecurity
Thefts, fights, prostitution networks, smuggling of cigarettes and telephones, women who no longer dare to wear skirts … Too much is too much for the inhabitants of the sensitive district of Guillotière, in Lyon, who declared Thursday, October 21 the climate of constant insecurity in which they live.
At the initiative of the La Guillotière collective in anger, traders closed their shop and gathered at 3 p.m. on Place Victor-Basch, near the Saxe-Gambetta metro exit. They then headed for Place Antonin-Jutard, on the banks of the Rhône. All residents who want ” live in an attractive, peaceful area where life is good Were invited to join them.
Repeated brawls
The procession, which about a hundred people, denounced the inertia of the Lyon municipality. “ And where are the elect? “,” Abandoned and angry traders », Could one read in particular on signs. In the ranks, the testimonies are eloquent. A bakery worker, quoted by 20 minutes, states ” spitting in front of the shop “And even” gangs fighting to the inside of the store “. Julien Deschamps, the president of the Gambetta Commerces collective, believes that the situation has deteriorated even more since the first confinement, in March and April 2020.
“That’s enough !” The merchants and residents “angry” of the district of # Guillotière unite against insecurity. @actufr_lyonpic.twitter.com/iZFuSotuza
– Théo Zuili (@theozuili) October 21, 2021
Near the Gabriel-Péri tram stop, improvised stalls are dressed every day. There is a lot of second-hand items, sometimes stolen or counterfeit. Again, fights are legion. Mehdi, a young employee of a store, explains to theAFP that he recently saw ” undocumented men fighting with sticks “. To fight against thefts, a mini-market with five security guards is investing in around thirty cameras.
The trouble can go even further. In mid-September, a man was shot and wounded in front of a clothing store. On Monday, October 18, a 17-year-old homeless teenager was stabbed several times on Quai Augagneur, near Place Antonin-Jutard. Two suspects, aged 18, were arrested and taken into police custody.
A municipality disconnected from the concerns of residents?
Over the past year, police operations have multiplied. The prefecture evokes 800 arrests since January 2021, while saying ” aware that the results are not yet fully satisfactory »In the streets of this popular district. The “ security issues “Persistent, with in particular” drug trafficking, cigarettes and prostitution ”, This is why the ecological municipality of Grégory Doucet asked the municipal police to go to the neighborhood twice a day and encountered the emphasis on video surveillance.
Several participatory workshops aimed at ” appease The neighborhood have also been organized in recent months. But on October 15, elected officials and residents once again struggled to agree on the means to be implemented to regain a real quality of life on Place Gabriel-Péri. ” We understand the irritation of the inhabitants. It is precisely because we are well aware of the dysfunctions and the problems that we are here this evening. We want to solve them. On the first actions », Assured Béatrice Vessilier, vice-president of the Metropolis in charge of town planning. The elected officials have, for example, proposed light arrangements in favor of pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transport. Suggestions that made the residents cringe, for whom safety is still and always the essential problem in their daily life.
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