CÔTE-D’OR: Gendarmerie reinforcements for the Family Protection House
The new gendarmerie unit fights against violence within the family. This Monday, September 5, a first assessment was presented at the Deflandre barracks, in Dijon.
Prevention, protection and guidance are the main objectives of the Côte-d’Or Family Protection House (MPF). Created at the end of the Grenelle against domestic violence in 2019, these places are intended to accommodate victims of domestic violence.
The gendarmerie teams dedicated to these missions are in direct contact with the investigators to create a climate of trust on the spot in order to create the testimonies of the victims, but also to facilitate the care of women, children and men victims of violence. or under the influence of a violent relative.
Already 1,200 contacts
For a year, date of the creation of the MPF of the gendarmerie group of the Côte-d’Or, more than 1,200 contacts have been established by this unit ranging from a report to a testimony.
The offices of the Family Protection House are located in the heart of the Deflandre barracks, boulevard du Maréchal-Joffre, in Dijon. The place is not intended to receive victims of violence. The persons concerned are invited to dial a telephone number (see below). One of the five gendarmes on duty will take the call and, depending on the seriousness of the situation, will initiate a specific process to guide, help and take care of the victim as quickly as possible.
Training to not be helpless
“Training is crucial” explains Chief Warrant Officer Bruno Colin, who heads the gendarmerie unit of the Maison de protection des familles in Dijon for the Côte-d’Or. “Everyone in my unit has been trained to be able to deal with all kinds of situations, not to be destitute and not to be caught off guard. It is also for this reason that we recruited among people who had life experience, in the gendarmerie and in civilian life. Our last staff arrived in the spring and a few days ago, at the beginning of September”, he continues.
“We had to create a social bond”
“Since the creation of the Maisons de Protection des Familles, professionals who have only involved in prevention have had to take legal action again. To better understand the work that awaited us, I went to see my colleagues who already had their MPF in Yonne and Doubs. And there I understood that it was necessary to put social ties, to make partnership, to install a watch and to put dedicated people requested for these missions because it is full time. Since we were created a little over a year ago, there is work for everyone”, develops the policeman.
Cases in progress
A social worker in the gendarmerie, Sarah Jouanin, provides permanence in various brigades of the Côte-d’Or department: “My role is to be the pivot between the gendarmerie services and the social services of the sectors. I’m here to detect, guide, welcome and make the link with people who might find it difficult to push the door of a police station, and at the same time who asks, for example, for help in finding a departure. I am therefore the link between the different partners to develop and identify the issues”.
The social worker adds: “I currently have 310 new files since the beginning of 2022 and around thirty that have been there since last year. These are very serious situations, with imminent dangers. These are people who are accompanied by serious telephone danger and by protective orders”.
Norbert Banchet
Photo: N. Banchet
Family Protection House: 03 80 70 66 38
Social worker in the Gendarmerie: 06 77 17 88 37
The emergency number remains 17