A police officer from the BAC Nord de Marseille recounts his daily life on RTL: “I almost went there”
While 12 former members of this brigade will be tried on appeal in September for misappropriation of seizures and the film North ferry by Cédric Jiménez has been decried, even exploited by certain political personalities, we dive with “Tommy” (his first name has been changed) into the brutal reality of men, including one crew was targeted by Kalashnikov bullets last October.
The scene occurred in the city of Bricarde, in the far north of Marseille, on Sunday October 3, 2021. “We were taken aback, we did not expect it at all and when we left the building, we got shot at. We had to lie on the ground… and escape. It’s funny. I think there’s an increase in weapons in circulation, but above all, many young people who are not aware of what they are doing. If they shoot us with Kalashnikovs, they don’t realize they can kill,” says Tommy.
He and his “colleagues” may have been taken for “competitors” by the shooters. A similar situation took place a few weeks later in Lyon, again without injuring. The Marseille prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for “attempted murder” which is still ongoing.
I chose BAC Nord because
that Marseille is mythical, the neighborhoods are out of the ordinary
Tommy, BAC Nord policeman
Tommy is approaching his forties. Behind his RayBan and his sharp smile, the one who describes himself as “doped with adrenaline” looks like a misunderstood soldier in a guerrilla war mixing white powder and black powder. “Other police officers in uniform don’t always understand it but I chose the BAC Nord because Marseille is legendary, the neighborhoods are out of the ordinary. People call 17, they see people passing by with firearms, shooting in the air. People without helmets on dirt bikes without plates, even if that tends to decrease. We are looking for action all day long, you have to like it. Last time, we had caddies thrown at us. 6 or 7 supermarket shopping carts piled up, swung in the face to try to stop our car. We blew a tire and the bodywork took too”, explains the official, always on the lookout.
Unlike the film that bears the name of the brigade: no remonstrance from their hierarchy, who assumes these material losses. Vehicles are targeted from the balconies during the stormy operations. “People who have nothing to do with criminals store onions or yogurts in freezers. It hardens and they throw them at us. It damages our hoods, when it doesn’t fall directly on us. We are aware that we are risking our lives, but if we don’t, who will?
One rule: take a step back
Passed by the BAC of 91 in the Paris region, Tommy prefers small Marseille dealers. “In Paris, the aggressiveness is exacerbated. They have already threatened to cut my throat. While here, it has nothing to do, they are nicer. Even if at the moment, they’re still delinquents, at least we can talk. I am from Marseille, some of my colleagues grew up in the northern districts and for me it remains the most beautiful city in France”.
This policeman meets consumers aged 14 to 80 on “deal” points.
Some even come with their children in the back seat. When he asks them if they are not afraid to take a stray bullet, they answer: “No no, it’s good, they just kill each other”.
After being targeted with heavy weapons, Tommy and his team were put to rest for a few days, before resuming service at the bottom of the blocks. His distancing from the dangerousness of his profession is hardly believable: “You have to take everything in the second degree. Because otherwise, it eats you up and then you end up seeing evil everywhere. That’s the problem and it’s impacting your family life.”
The legendary Marseille bridle of the BAC Nord is made up of more than 60 police officers
Credit: Hugo Amelin
He continues by confiding that “over the years, we put everything into perspective, but really everything. We witness really dramatic scenes sometimes. With children, with the dead… you really see the misery. If you don’t take a step back, the images are going to come back to you all the time. Like the day we got shot. At first, the adrenaline holds you, you stay lucid. But a few days later, you have a backlash when you say to yourself ‘shit I almost went through it'”.
A final word on the controversial film, “BAC Nord” by Cédric Jimenez: “Most of my colleagues liked it. We like the actors. But it doesn’t happen like in the movie. There isn’t a delinquent who tells us ‘you leave the city or you don’t set foot in the city’, that’s out of the question. We go to all the cities and there is no one forcing us to back down. Even if sometimes it goes into a spin, like at La Castellane three weeks ago, everywhere. Because we remain the BAC Nord”.