- Title: France's Hollande meets with police unions as officers demonstrate in Paris
- Date: 26th October 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 26, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ELYSEE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE VARIOUS OF POLICE UNION REPRESENTATIVES ARRIVING AT ELYSEE PALACE FRENCH AND EUROPEAN FLAGS FLYING PARIS POLICE PREFECT, MICHEL CADOT, ARRIVING POLICE OFFICER KEEPING GUARD MEETING BEGINNING VARIOUS OF FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRIME MINISTER MANUEL VALLS AND INTERIOR MINISTER BERNARD CAZENEUVE AT MEETING VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS HOLDING BANNER READING (French): "OFFICERS ATTACKED, CITIZENS IN DANGER!" AT DEMONSTRATION ON PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE POLICE OFFICERS DEMONSTRATING, ONE HOLDING SIGN WITH PHOTO OF POLICE CAR THAT WAS LIT ON FIRE IN PARIS DEMONSTRATION IN MAY 2016 POLICE OFFICERS HOLDING BANNER READING (French): "ALWAYS ON THE FRONT LINES, THE POLICE EXPECT ONLY RECOGNITION" POLICE OFFICERS DEMONSTRATING AT PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE POLICE OFFICERS DEMONSTRATING IN FRONT OF FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEMONSTRATOR HOLDING SIGN READING (French): "UNCONDITIONAL SOLIDARITY, LONG LIVE THE POLICE AND THE ARMY" OFFICERS CLAPPING (SOUNDBITE) (French) CITY POLICE OFFICER IN SUBURBS SOUTH OF PARIS, PHILIPPE, SAYING: "We live under a system of hoodlum-ocracy. And we tremble before these hoodlums. Well today we're here to reverse that trend. They're (the government) scared of the hoodlums? Well maybe now they'll be scared of the police, of the people, who aren't asking for extraordinary things. We're just asking for the law to be applied, for the return of the authority of the state, the laws that are passed right here (gestures to National Assembly). We're not asking for too much, our demands are totally normal." DEMONSTRATORS STANDING DEMONSTRATORS' FEET (SOUNDBITE) (French) UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER, SAYING: "They don't give us the means to work properly. They don't give us the means to act, to have a physical response against delinquency. The delinquents laugh at us, they openly mock us. They cook our colleagues in their cars now. So what's next? They kill our colleagues in their homes, they burn them alive in Paris and the suburbs, not to mention the provinces. We are understaffed everywhere. At some point we need to react, either at the local or government level, something's got to give." OFFICERS HOLDING BANNER READING (French): "MORE FORCES AND MEANS" / FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN THE BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF OFFICERS DEMONSTRATING IN FRONT OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
- Embargoed: 10th November 2016 17:18
- Keywords: France police Francois Hollande unions law enforcement Paris demonstration
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Defence,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00155N8RIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: French President Francois Hollande met with police union leaders at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday (October 26), as officers took to the streets of Paris to protest a lack of equipment and forces in the field.
French police have been demonstrating for 10 days, decrying in particular the violence they face in tough neighbourhoods.
On Wednesday, they demonstrated at the Place de la Republique and in front of the National Assembly in Paris.
One female police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, was demonstrating with a scarf wrapped around her face and said she was afraid of retaliation if she was recognised.
"They don't give us the means to work properly. They don't give us the means to act, to have a physical response against delinquency. The delinquents laugh at us, they openly mock us. They cook our colleagues in their cars now. So what's next? They kill our colleagues in their homes, they burn them alive in Paris and the suburbs, not to mention the provinces. We are understaffed everywhere. At some point we need to react, either at the local or government level, something's got to give," she said.
Unions hope the government will commit to reinforcing their numbers as well as increase the severity of penalties for those who commit violence against officers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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