Gérald Darmanin asked that the police and gendarmes, regularly accused of not displaying their identification number during law enforcement operations, wear it “in all circumstances” in a telegram dated Friday and consulted Monday by the AFP.
In this letter addressed to the prefects and directors of the police and the gendarmerie, the Minister of the Interior underlines by hand twice the acronym “RIO” (repository of identities and organization), to better recall its port mandatory since 2014, making it possible to identify a civil servant, in particular in the event of violence.
The police must wear it “in uniform as in civilian clothes”, he writes.
In a handwritten message at the end of the telegram, Gérald Darmanin notes that they are “responsible for the strict application of these instructions in accordance with the law” and thanks them for their “mobilization, in particular on the occasion of the demonstration of the 1st- May”, regularly the scene of incidents, especially in Paris.
“Police and gendarmes do not wear their registration, it is against the rules”, admitted on April 5 the Minister of the Interior before the Senate.
On the same day, the Council of State, urgently seized by several organizations for the defense of human rights, lawyers and magistrates, had however refused to impose measures on the Ministry of the Interior.
“It is up to both the hierarchical authorities and the unit managers to recall and enforce this obligation”, under penalty of “a disciplinary sanction”, recalled the administrative judge.
During the hearing, the representative of the Ministry of the Interior had acknowledged that no police officer or gendarme had ever been prosecuted for the sole fact of not wearing their RIO.
04/24/2023 19:00:42 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
