In Marseille, Emmanuel Macron defends his security policy

Special envoy to Marseilles.

They are six, seated around the President of the Republic who has come to meet them at Campanules, in the northern districts of Marseille. All have in common the loss of a son or a nephew, in one of these numerous shootings which bloody the city.

“I am stuffed. I am in front of you but I no longer exist. I died inside“says Anita (the first name has been changed), who wears her son’s name around her neck. He was 21 when he was shot in the Old Port five years ago.

This Monday, the stories of these women remind the Head of State that Marseille must always struggle with fierce insecurity. “It’s not possible to die at 14, you should have your life ahead of you“says the aunt of Rayanne, shot dead in August 2021 in the second city of France.

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Almost two years after the announcement of the “Marseille en grand” plan and its rain of billions of euros (15, including 5 brought by the State) to get the city out of the mess, Emmanuel Macron is confronted with the stubborn realities of Marseille. For the first day of his trip, which will continue until Wednesday, the Head of State emphasizes the sovereign.

“Collective Responsibility”

“The situation remains very difficult“, he admits at midday, after visiting the judicial police and stopping off at the indescribable Baumettes prison, where a new building with 740 places is in the process of coming out of the ground. “All the commitments made two years ago have been kept. It’s historic“, insists the Head of State in front of the civil servants in uniform of the various bodies who are active in the front line to make life difficult for drug trafficking.

Some 300 police officers, 11 investigators for the judicial police, 3 stationed CRS companies, 22 magistrates, 10 magistrates from the prosecution… Emmanuel Macron believes he has done his part, promises “to speed up“, proposes that verbalized cannabis users can pay their fine to the police as of September to improve collection.

The president puts forward a first essment: 40% of the deal points dismantled (70 out of the 222 recorded in the Bouches-du-Rhône). “We can’t see the difference“answers Anita when she meets the Head of State at the end of the afternoon around a tray of oriental pastries. “The coming months are going to be tough. We must be clear. We are not going to shut down the networks overnight. On the other hand, we are not going to let go», notes the Head of State. “Me too“, he retorts, when a woman introduces herself as a “warrioragainst drug dealers.

But Emmanuel Macron is especially keen to turn to local elected officials in the name of “collective responsibility“. “I’m sorry to say it in rather blunt terms, but we cannot deplore the children who are killed in the neighborhoods and glorify the recreational consumption of narcotics.“, he let go before joining the northern districts. Components of the Printemps Marseillais, the alliance of left-wing parties that run the city, are in favor of the legalization of cannabis.

Environmentalists are also reluctant to deploy surveillance cameras. “It is now necessary that all stakeholders consider that commenting, procrastinating, is not a way to meet the needs of the people of Marseille“warned the president in an interview with Provence before being received forty minutes at the town hall by the mayor Benoît Payan.

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Walkabout

But it is indeed his relatives that Emmanuel Macron intends to put forward. Like the deputy Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, who made sure that the course of the head of state contrasts with the previous hexagonal trips punctuated with ceroles. “Marseille welcomes you in Grand“, can we read on signs in a group of activists. A large banner in the colors of Marseille was installed at the bottom of the Campanules towers: “Welcome Mr. President!»

But on the way that leads to the Busserine gymnasium – where 300 Marseillais are waiting for a debate – most of the inhabitants only see him from their windows. Police officers guard the entrances to the buildings. Some “Macron resignation” are heard. Change of atmosphere further during a walkabout where children’s cries, encouragement, the suggestion of a man who imagines Emmanuel Macron running for mayor of Marseille, the astonishment and annoyance of a woman who is surprised to have never seen her neighborhood so well cleaned and “go Om” Anything goes… So goes the tumultuous Marseille on a day of presidential visit.