“311 more police officers and gendarmes in Hérault this summer”, according to the prefect

The prefect recalled that the Hérault gendarmes were not taking leave this summer. Midi Libre – RAYAN DEWALQUE

The prefect of Hérault, François-Xavier Lauch, certified that the staff mobilized for the Olympic Games would be more than replaced this summer.

"On my arrival in the department (last October), a number of mayors had raised concerns with me regarding the summer security measures”, recalled the prefect of Hérault, François-Xavier Lauch, this Wednesday, in La Grande Motte.
A few hours before the first events of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, for which Hérault is sending (in successive rotations) 250 gendarmes to Paris, as well as police officers to Marseille, the prefect presented the summer protection measures for the population in the gendarmerie zone.

“I brought together the mayors on March 14 to explain to them that this summer in In Hérault, there would be no squadrons of mobile gendarmes, nor equestrian detachments and lifeguards."

"And yet, we will have more law enforcement officers available, because the Hérault gendarmes do not take leave, and I thank them for that. We also mobilize exceptional amounts of reservists throughout the summer. We are finally making moves internally.

“25% of annual activity”

"L’été, 1.2 à 1.5 million more people are staying in H&rault, underlines the prefect. They consume 20 million hotel nights in July and August. This obviously translates into more work for the security forces. We go from 100 & 300 guards à view per day. This represents 8,000 investigations and 11,000 interventions over the two months, or 25% of the activity. annual."

"220 more gendarmes every day"

"All this translates into 311 more staff compared to a normal summer. In the gendarmerie zone, we have 220 more gendarmes every day, and 134 are mobilized in the coastal zone."

The prefect notably presented the platoon of intervention and security reservists (Pris), equipped with "14 gendarmes who usually have another profession and have focused their shifts on this summer to be on the ground in the department. This gives us the same intervention capacity as the mobile gendarmes who came as reinforcements to Palavas (during the summer of 2020)&quot ;.

This Pris was created on the initiative of Thomas Deprecq, general commanding the departmental gendarmerie group, who was present at this presentation. Stéphan Rossignol, the mayor of La Grande-Motte, gave a tour of the urban supervision center, then the waterfront.

The prefect will return to La Grande-Motte this Friday evening to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on a giant screen, at the ephemeral village located on Place de l’Épi, next door from the city center beach.