120 acts of delinquency, around thirty attacks, some of which are very serious. These are too many numbers. Are these the figures that prompted you to act today?

Indeed, I believe that the situation cannot go on any longer and that is why I am taking these measures which begin above all, precisely with an increased presence of the national police on the Place de la République and on the surroundings of the place of the Republic.

Among the measures announced, this decision to end the derogation for night establishments to close at 5 a.m. They will now close at 2 a.m. When will it come into effect?

First, more police, what does that mean? It means systematic presence of the national police. I asked for it. Weekend evenings, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. That is the heart of presence. You were also able to see that there were CRS who had arrived in recent days. What we have asked the bars to do is return to what is called common law. The common law is the opening until 2am. I could have made an administrative closure decision but what I asked for was that we return to the common law of opening: all the bars on the Côte d’Or open until 2 a.m. . And so, the convicts did not benefit from the bars in the Place de la République and end up consuming.

Do you have a date to announce to us for the end of the derogation?

As you know, I received them with the mayor of Dijon, François Rebsamen. And so obviously, they need a little time to adapt. This is a measure that will take effect in the coming days, probably around December 1.

The Umih that you received also says that it is a decision that is not going in the right direction, because the aggressions may happen sooner.

What happens at night, on Place de la République and the surrounding area? We see that 40% of crimes take place between midnight and 5 am and this is the reason why I systematically asked for more police at night. And besides, I would like to point out that for example, in Dijon, you have the national police. But the municipal police act until 3am, which is quite rare in the big cities of France. So on a real police presence. And then on this additional measure of limited opening, like bars throughout the Côte-d’Or until 2 a.m. Last thing I would like to add in Besançon is 1am. This is for comparison. I do not believe that the bars of Dijon, the bars of the Place de la République would favor a situation that would be unfair. An exemption is terminated.

At the same time, we said, these night establishments, they have concerns: losing turnover, having fewer customers, who perhaps will go elsewhere, on the square or all around. Isn’t that averting the problem?

I am deeply convinced that if we do nothing, once again, there have been extremely serious assaults, there have been sexual assaults, there is a gentleman who found himself with more than 30 days of interruption of work. If we do nothing, people on their own will no longer come to the Place de la République. Parents will tell their children. It’s a rather young clientele that no longer frequents Place de la République. So we take our responsibilities. I take my responsibilities by limiting opening hours. And so, to be very clear, you can leave Place de la République, but until 2 am.