In the competition between what we now have to call the two right wings, given the porosity between their respective electorates, Christian Estrosi is playing the security card, always trying to stay one step ahead of his “new” opponents.
Riding on the wave of collective psychology (the firefighter-arsonist trick still works!) and taking advantage of the abandonment of the sociological idealism of the left (the socialists are in full transition, and even the clownish tricolor Chavez doesn’t dare intervene on such a sensitive issue), he has found an open path to make it his hobbyhorse and metaphorically raise the stakes.
The choice of monitoring the city with surveillance cameras, implementing various restrictive measures, and a strong municipal police force specializing in intervention sectors (mobile brigades) are the appearances that allow Christian Estrosi to don the mantle of a sheriff-mayor, which nowadays is synonymous with easy popularity.
Moreover, if citizens demand law and order, why deny it to them?
In fact, starting next month, a municipal security observatory will be active, able to provide all the numbers and statistics regarding various types of offenses and crimes.
Here we are at the commissioning of the 1,000th surveillance camera on Lanterne Street at the urban surveillance center (CSU), where 70 people work and of which the mayor of Nice is quite proud.
This network is particularly useful in identifying culprits and in the criteria of accusations in deterrent terms. In any case, the numbers are here: 2,470 arrests have been made possible thanks to this technology.
But this symbolic figure is just a cornerstone of action that began on March 23, 2010, and has developed at a steady pace since. Bolstered by this success, the mayor of Nice wants to accelerate.
500 new cameras will be installed during the 2014-2020 term (including 50 this year), prioritizing the hillside areas to combat burglaries.
Moreover, the modernization of the fleet with the multiplication of HD cameras and especially 360ยฐ cameras, the adoption of third-generation software allowing the detection of an object, a vehicle, a person in a few seconds based on its description. Also, the installation of private cameras in common areas of social housing or shopping centers and their connection to the CSU, the installation of cameras in tramway cars and their connection to the CSU.
The security ensured by an organization and means that Christian Estrosi boasts as the most significant in all French cities, but the mayor of Nice wants to tackle another, less sensitive and publicized but equally important project: double parking and parking in reserved spots.
Yes, in Nice one can find the chaotic and undisciplined Mediterranean city. Agree on the famous “m’en bati sieu nissart” (I don’t care, I’m from Nice) but others exist too!
Starting April 1st (is it a coincidence?) and progressively, area by area, video ticketing will tackle the behavior of motorists guilty of incivilities and other violations.
A good decision in overseeing the upright citizen but it will not fail to stir up a large part of the population accustomed to its local conveniences.
This apparent severity will also have the advantage of replenishing the municipal coffers: where this system has been implemented, the statistics show an increase of revenues by more than 20%!!!
