“Drugs, rave parties, illegal installations by travellers, it's driving people crazy”: the Hérault prefect's tough return

François Xavier-Lauch : “Les préfets sont les protecteurs des religions”. Midi Libre – DORIAN CAYUELA

After a year at the head of the Hérault prefecture, Prefect François-Xavier Lauch is not changing his compass. He intends to enforce the rules in terms of security, coastal protection, etc. while supporting sectors in difficulty. Interview.

What has left the biggest impression on you since your appointment??
The anti-Semitic attack in La Grande-Motte is a significant event, particularly in terms of the reactions it has provoked among elected officials, the Jewish community and society. There are other issues such as the agricultural crisis, which has been difficult to manage. It didn't end there, by the way. But it happened without any serious disturbance to public order.

Three priorities for the start of the school year: “Security, Cévennes episodes and aid for agriculture”. Midi Libre – DORIAN CAYUELA

Your priorities for back to school ?
Safety first. The Cévennes episodes next. I have just written to the mayors to remind them of the essential reflexes, this is the worst that can happen in the department. I appeal to everyone's responsibility. Finally, viticulture and livestock farming. Harvest forecasts have been revised downwards with a loss of yield of 20 to 30% compared to a reference year. The State paid 46 million euros in 2023 to winegrowers, it will continue to help them. Without vines, there is shackling and scrubland, with the risk of fire as a key.

You initiated the first Place nette operation in the Cité Saint-Martin in Montpellier at the end of 2023 before multiplying them, up to La Devèze in Béziers. What is the assessment ?
I draw an extremely positive conclusion for the benefit of the judicial authorities. Before each Place nette, there is a file that is put together by the judicial police or the research sections of the gendarmerie. The idea is to hit hard in conjunction with the prosecutor and by breaking down the barriers between services. We stopped during the summer but we will continue. I listened to the residents before and after Place nette in Saint-Martin, we gave them hope. We are not letting up the pressure. Will we have the same impetus from the government, I don't know.

Drug trafficking is at the heart of most crime: the proliferation of businesses that do not respect the rules. They are counter-models of society. Separatism is not far away. Our fellow citizens suffer from it both in the neighborhoods and in the countryside. Consumers must react because they participate in their own way in this trafficking that undermines our society. There is a fixed fine of 130 euros for consumers, if they do not pay it, their wages are garnished. The triptych of drug trafficking, rave parties, illegal installation of certain communities of travelers, it drives people crazy. I do not know if we are reducing these issues, in any case we are trying. We will get there in the long run.

After Place nette, a young man died again in La Devèze near a drug dealing point… How to go further ?
La Devèze is a very interesting district, we have invested tens of millions of euros in urban renovation, two schools have been built there… And for the moment we are not there yet. It is long-term action that will allow us to get there and not give up. The message that I send to traffickers is that we will not give up on them. But we also need a civic awakening, people must not lower their heads. We have been there once in La Devèze, we will go there twice. Traffickers are not safe, nor are consumers. I want to speak to their intelligence: buying contraband drugs and tobacco is feeding a whole system that leads to score-settling. When you destabilize a traffic, you create room for others and therefore for conflicts.

Are the means sufficient ?
In 2007, 10,000 police officers and gendarmes were cut. The next two presidents brought the numbers back above what they were. We are opening three gendarmerie brigades: Pignan in April, Ganges in 2025 and Vias in 2026. The reform of the national police offers new resources thanks to pooling. I have a mobile force unit regularly. A squadron of the Guépard stayed a week in La Grande-Motte after the attack on the synagogue. There are the Sentinelle soldiers. Depending on events, we have mobile forces and zonal reinforcements like this summer. We can ask for more. My role is to make them work better, so that we see them more, on foot, on bikes. The department is well armed. Progress must be made on two points: the area around Montpellier in the gendarmerie zone and the Sète constituency.

The prefect did not dodge any questions on the various issues that concern Hérault. Midi Libre – DORIAN CAYUELA

Should the law change regarding the closure of night grocery stores and hookah bars ?
These businesses are the result of drug and tobacco trafficking. There were 94 administrative closures in 2023, and there were 86 on September 2, with an average of 36 days of closure. The prefect's administrative police powers must be strengthened against these absolute offenders. What matters to them is staying open to whiten. We have never had so many beards and hair in this department. The law does not allow me to make administrative closures of barbers and hairdressers. And then, the mayors would like to benefit from an instrument to control the distribution of trade. It comes from everywhere! Regulations must evolve.

After the attack in La Grande-Motte, can the Jewish community live peacefully in Hérault ?
We have increased security and surveillance of places of worship, cultural centers and schools. An audit has been launched to see how to increase security in all these places. The Jewish community is worried. I cannot remain silent. With the prosecutor, we are uncompromising. I encourage, with the rector, teachers to speak out. Otherwise the separatist ideas propagated on social networks will win. Jews are being held responsible in a despicable way for international issues that are beyond them. They are more French by their origins than my ancestors if necessary. Anti-Semitism is a very French evil. Prefects are the protectors of religions. The Republic allows the practice of worship, it is a translation of free thought.

François-Xavier Lauch took up his duties in Hérault on October 9, 2023. Midi Libre – DORIAN CAYUELA

“I will continue to help winegrowers”

“I will continue to help winegrowers, it is one of the essential issues. I am also trying, with all the stakeholders, to show them signs for the future. I see two: the work we are doing with the Departmental Council on winter retentions. We have thus decided to launch studies for those of Florensac, Coulobres and Magalas at the start of the school year. The second message of support goes to the breeders faced with the strong presence of bluetongue. Agriculture is not in a very good period. It is a subject that worries me a lot. We are going to redeploy the systems, we will see what the government will allocate as aid. But farmers are tired of living on life support. At the same time, we have to find the conditions for doing business with climate change. Diversification, income from renewable energies, etc. There is no single solution.”

Littoral and coastline: “Let's not bury our heads in the sand”

“When we see the effect of climate change on our coasts (erosion of the coastline, rising water levels): we are worried about a certain number of towns (Vias, the Frontignan dune cordon, Palavas-les-Flots, etc.). I will bring together the 13 coastal mayors at the start of the school year. My message: let's not bury our heads in the sand. We are deploying local strategies and working with the Coastal Conservatory to renature the coast. One of the challenges: removing equipment from sensitive remarkable areas while trying to find a balance between this imperative and the need to preserve activities. I try to be conciliatory after the law is there, I enforce it. We need to work together, upstream. On the renewal of the concession in Agde: the delay was not attributable to the state.”

Future LGV: “This line is essential”

“This line is essential to our department and the Region, to put our urban areas closer to Paris. And also on a European level. When we want to decarbonize our travel, the train is still the best way. This of course raises several concerns. With the Picpoul de Pinet, it will be necessary to have the least possible impact on this beautiful appellation. We are working on possible agricultural compensations. The second subject is landscape integration. Strong commitments have been made by the SNCF, particularly where the LGV will be most visible, at the Poussan viaduct. The third subject is to reassure elected officials that the current stations (Agde and Sète) will continue to be well served. Consultation meetings with elected officials will be renewed."

Appointment of the new Prime Minister

“I am a prefect and therefore bound by a strict duty of reserve. The political colour of the Prime Minister is none of my business. But I am happy to have a new government. We demonstrated this summer that the State was still present, but things are still better when we have a government that provides impetus.”

BDS and Free Thought Demonstration

“Dialogue is always possible with associations. It is normal for the prefect to remind people of the rule. I am the guarantor of the possibility of demonstrating in the department. A week after the attack in La Grande-Motte, it was not the time to add to it. I have nothing to say about drawing attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Demonstrating freely does not authorize other things such as occupying public space without authorization, threatening representatives of certain communities in speeches, potentially defaming elected officials by broadcasting their portrait with the word “genocide”.

This does not authorize promoting an idea which is that of amalgamation. This is what these demonstrations produce. I will ask my chief of staff to meet with them to discuss the terms of the upcoming demonstrations and remind them of the limits."

Works on the Place de la Préfecture

"The construction site on the Place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance ? I only think good things about it! Montpellier is a city under construction, people complain from time to time. When I go to Paris for the prefects' meetings, my throat hurts. I don't feel it in Montpellier. Public management is courageous here in making our fellow citizens understand that the reign of all cars is over, we have to move on. I am so convinced that I am trying to work on the restoration of the facade myself!”

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