Transport security: a new unit created in Toulouse, at least 60 police officers expected
By Guillaume Laurent
Published on
This is – on paper – an important announcement made by the State services, this Thursday, November 24, 2022, in the morning, for Security on the metro, tram and other buses and trains in the agglomeration of Toulouse, where Prime Minister Jean Castex had already come in 2020 to announce 110 additional “classic” police officers.
“As part of the offensive policy carried out in the fight against delinquency”, the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin “a decision to significantly reduce the fight against insecurity in public transport”, and in particular in Toulouse, announces the prefecture of Haute-Garonne in a press release.
Doubling of the workforce in France
At the national level, the Minister decided to create 77 new units dedicated to transport security, totaling nearly 2,000 additional police and gendarmes, i.e. a doubling of the staff dedicated to this mission.
“These new staff will be made possible by the Orientation and Programming Law of the Ministry of the Interior (LOPMI), which notably establishes the creation of 8,500 positions in the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories during the five-year term. “.
As for the deployment schedule, still according to the State services, “these reinforcements will be gradually put in place until spring 2024 in order to be operational for the Olympic and Paralympic Games”.
60 to 90 police officers in eight major cities, including Toulouse
1,300 of these 2,000 additional police forces will be policemena large part of which will be affected in “8 new interdepartmental public transport security services (SISTC)”: Bordeaux, Rennes, Toulouse, Orleans, Rouen, Strasbourg, Dijon and Nantes”, as it already exists in three other cities (in this case: Marseille, Lyon and Lille). While it has a solid public transport network with a metro, the fourth largest city in France does not yet benefit from such a system.
“For each of them, between 60 and 90 police officers will provide security missions for stations, public transport stations and the public transport network”.
“Joint” missions with those of Tisséo agents
The prefecture specifies that “the patrols will take into account in particular theTimes when crime is highest for more efficiency, but also the crowd photos, to reassure and deter.
She adds that “these missions could be joint with private security personnel transport authorities”, particularly in Toulouse, where many Tisséo agents already provide security, particularly in the metro and tram.
For Jean-Luc Moudenc, this “will greatly increase security”
“This is a subject that we have often discussed between the city and the prefecture”, reacts the mayor (ex-LR) of the Pink City, to the announcement of this news. Contacted by Toulouse news, Jean-Luc Moudenc confides: “The security of transport on joint strike often the national police, and sometimes the municipal police for patrols in transport”. The first magistrate is therefore delighted with the creation of this new service.
“A special unit dedicated to transport will greatly increase security, but also the legal aspect will be better handled”.
Transport “among the least dangerous in France” in Toulouse
Concretely, how many police officers will be assigned to the Pink City? For the time being, the prefecture does not respond precisely. But Jean-Luc Moudenc ensures for his part: “Public transport in Toulouse is among the least dangerous of France, that’s why we will be, I think, in the low range. The exact number is not fixed yet, but I think we will be close to 60″.
At the same time, the Ministry of the Interior prides itself of a significant drop in violence against people in public transport nationwide: -18% between September and October 2022, fairly at the same period in 2021. According to official figures, this drop is even more dizzying in Haute-Garonne, where violence against people has fallen, according to the ministry, by 42%.
In smaller cities and in Paris too
Beyond these large cities, the government has announced the creation of “37 new brigades” in smaller cities, including Montpellier, Nîmes and Perpignan in Occitanie. With, for each of them, 10 to 20 police officers who “will carry out the same missions as the SISTC, but in less dense transport networks”, indicated the government.
Finally, with regard to Paris and its police headquarters, 200 police officers will become the staff in charge of the transport police, an increase of 20%.
New gendarmes on the horizon in the South West too
In addition to the police, 600 additional gendarmes have been announced by the government. A good part will be affected within 30 new brigades dedicated to public transport in the gendarmerie zone (composed of approximately 10 gendarmes each, and whose location will be determined following the ongoing consultation with elected officials on the 200 new establishments of gendarmerie brigades).
The rest will join two new platoons of gendarmerie reservists, “composed of about 50 reservists each, in the West and South-West zone, dedicated to securing public transport.
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