The President of the Republic was visiting the capital of the French Riviera to discuss the theme of security and present a unique police headquarters project in Nice.
A few days after strong statements from the Republican candidate, Valérie Pécresse, who said she wanted to “clean up the neighborhoods” and criticized Macron’s security record, the President of the Republic traveled to Nice to address the theme of security.
Accompanied by Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, and Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate for Citizenship, the head of state arrived at 11 a.m. in Nice in front of the former Saint-Roch hospital. This location will be transformed in a few years into a unique infrastructure in France, a “police hotel” whose construction will begin next year and end in 2025.
This project, supported by the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, for 12 years, was rejected under François Hollande’s presidency. Under Emmanuel Macron’s term, things have changed, and the state has agreed to fund 75% of the work, amounting to 172 million euros. The rest will be financed by the PACA region (10 million euros), the Alpes-Maritimes department (5 million), and the city of Nice.
Christian Estrosi presents this project as “the police hotel of tomorrow, shared between municipal and national police forces.”
The 50,000 m² infrastructure will host 2,000 police officers (1,200 national and 800 municipal), a 3,500 m² “urban hypervision” video surveillance center connected to the city’s cameras and emergency call terminals.
The goal of this creation is “to improve working conditions, provide better information sharing, and enhanced coordination in security matters,” explains the mayor of Nice.
After Christian Estrosi’s presentation of the project, a discussion time was organized for law enforcement, elected officials, magistrates, and Nice residents to ask the President questions on security topics.
In his responses, Emmanuel Macron addressed the security statistics of his term, pointing out significant reductions (burglary -15%, vehicle theft -22%, armed robbery -29%…) but also noticeable increases in certain crimes such as violence in demonstrations, intra-family violence, and drug-related violence (+30%). These national statistics were often compared by the President with those of the Alpes-Maritimes. A way to remind that the department is ahead in this area.
As the questions progressed, the head of state took advantage of certain themes to announce the upcoming implementation of numerous major security measures.
Emmanuel Macron first announced that the security budget would be increased by 15 billion euros over five years, a 25% increase from the current budget. This increase is part of a project called the “orientation and programming law of the Interior Ministry” which will be presented to the Council of Ministers in March.
The President of the Republic also announced that offenses punishable by sentences of less than one year in prison would become “fixed fine offenses” (AFD). This measure will address drug trafficking and allow “magistrates to focus on more significant cases.”
A new fine has just been created, and another will see an increase. Indeed, the fine that condemns street harassment will be tripled from 100 € to 300€.
The head of state then announced measures regarding the organization of law enforcement. Several units will be created, and others will increase their staff. A “republican action force” will be created in neighborhoods experiencing difficulties. The advantage of these units is that they will be entirely dedicated to maintaining order in the neighborhood they are assigned to.
Another unit will be designed and consists of 1,500 additional cyber patrollers to combat digital attacks. These “web spies” will come from a cyber training school created within the Interior Ministry. This investment plan is expected to cost around 1 billion euros.
200 gendarmerie brigades will also be formed in rural areas “to restore tranquility in the most rural neighborhoods.”
In addition to the 10,000 positions created during this term, the number of police officers on the ground will be doubled by 2030.
Emmanuel Macron’s visit was truly aimed at underscoring the future candidate’s ambitions in terms of security.
After the end of the discussion session, the President of the Republic went to the Roya Valley to see the progress of reconstruction works related to the damage caused by storm Alex.
