While the national delinquency report has sparked the most heated debates among opposing political forces, the report from the Alpes-Maritimes should, in turn, be a matter of broad satisfaction for everyone. Of course, each party will take the part that benefits them the most to exploit it.
But, without boasting, Prefect Adolphe Colrat could not contain his satisfaction when stating that “the 2013 report on the fight against delinquency is encouraging. The continued mobilization of the Police and Gendarmerie services has helped to reduce delinquency.”
The Prefect was accompanied by the commanders of the National Police and the Gendarmerie, as well as the heads of the Border Police and the Judiciary Police, who could incorporate his report and answer questions.
Particular satisfaction comes from the results of burglaries, which is rightly considered by victims as the most violent act: -10%.
The same trend is observed for robberies involving violence (12.5%).
General delinquency decreased by 4.5% in 2013, and local delinquency by 7%. On the other hand, armed robberies increased by 7%.
Naturally, all these percentages should be considered more for their downward trend than in absolute value. It is easy to understand that statistical analysis would require multi-year series to draw more convincing conclusions.
However, what emerges from this report is a control of the situation by the State services and the implementation of complementary organization among the different actors, coordinated by the Prefecture and in partnership with municipal police as part of agreements established with the most important municipalities.
Even more positive results come from the Priority Security Zones (ZSP), where the initial results, after ten months of implementation, show (in Nice and 5 neighboring municipalities that comprise it – a 17% reduction in the police area, while the gendarmerie area shows a more mixed report of +4%).
The Prefect highlighted a proactive policy, a better organization of activity that allows more effective presence on the ground, and the application of innovative actions such as the Cannes Security Prestige Committee or Notre-Dame in Nice, focused on preventive safety.
Naturally, the education-prevention-repression component was once again cited as the strong axis of public policies, and its success requires the involvement of other actors such as families and the educational world.
A response to the easy criticism of the slogan “the police arrest and the justice releases” came from the Public Prosecutors present, Eric Bedos of the Nice Court and Georges Gutierrez of the Grasse Court, who testified about their activity by stating that the penal response “was” and “is up to the task,” while recalling the difficult situation of the department’s prison establishments.
The final word from Prefect Colrat: “These trends do not represent any achievement. We are all aware that in 2014 we are starting from zero again and that we must be even more effective. Unfortunately, there is also a gap between reality and perception. Besides, there are still too many victims, we cannot be content with statistics as consolation. We also need accurate information and to denounce problems and shortcomings while proposing good solutions and good practices.”
