“Well done boss!” : agents of the judicial police of Marseille pay tribute to their director after his “brutal and unjust” dismissal – franceinfo

It is a decision that is difficult to pass. The agents of the judicial police of Marseilles met, Friday, September 7, to contest the dismissal of their boss, Eric Arella, southern zonal director of the judicial police. This decision was taken after the demonstration of 200 judicial police officers Thursday, October 6 in Marseille. They received the Director General of the National Police (DGPN), Frédéric Veaux, arms crossed, black mask on his face, to denounce the reform of the police wanted by the Ministry of the Interior. A mobilization that has obviously not passed, the DGPN denounced the “unacceptable disloyalty of the regional director”, while pointing to “poor results in Marseille.” “Mr. Arella has dedicated his life to the judicial police, he is someone who has always been close to his men”, explains for his part Thomas, group leader at the anti-narcotics office, and present this Friday for pay tribute to its former leader. Like him, dozens of agents applaud him in a guard of honor, “bravo boss!” are sent into the air, as Eric Arella’s car passes. “Never, ever, would I have thought to experience events like this. Everyone warns of the danger to the French state of this reform.” Thomas, group leader at the Marseille anti-narcotics office at franceinfo Like Thomas, many agents came to greet the departure of Eric Arella, much appreciated by his teams. The police unions, too, reacted. “It’s a brutal and unfair decision”, for the commissioners’ union. On the justice side, the association of investigating magistrates warns of a “worrying and significant decision of an authoritarian mode of management”. At the heart of the tensions, there is the reform of the police, announced by the Ministry of the Interior and expected for the beginning of next year. This project plans to place all the police services of a department – intelligence, public security, border police and judicial police – under the authority of a single Departmental Director of the National Police (DDPN), dependent on the prefect. Agents fear that their know-how will disappear. Thomas is not worried about his “personal future” but about “safeguarding the missions” of the judicial police and “the future of our country”. “The mission of the judicial police is to protect France from organized crime and mafias, he continues. This reform would not only benefit narco-banditry, but also major financial crime, organized crime which does bank robbery. No one will have time to take an interest in them. We will all be mobilized on petty and medium crime. However, high-level crime cannot be dealt with half-time.” Other rallies also took place elsewhere in France to oppose the dismissal of Eric Arella and this reform. The situation is so tense that the boss of the judicial police at the national level has even considered resigning. A resignation that the police management had to formally deny.