Sixty police officers from this elite unit specializing in fighting urban violence arrived overnight from Monday to Tuesday to reinforce the police force in Colmar.
They patrol day and night, until the end of the week. To strengthen the tone in the face of urban rodeos, four days after the death of a young Afghan during an altercation in Colmar, the CRS were deployed as reinforcements during the night from Monday to Tuesday. As announced on Monday by Gérald Darmanin, it is CRS 8, sent to the scene to “carry out police operations in order to restore order”.
While investigations continue to find the trace of the man behind the gunshots that led to the death of a person, this elite unit is not intended to aid in the search. Specialized in urban violence, he carries out operations to secure the premises and can intervene in the event of new urban rodeos.
Sixty police officers were sent to Colmar to bolster police ranks this week. But there are a total of 200 to be trained to intervene throughout the territory, when situations of urban violence or disturbances to public order occur.
“These reinforcements will allow us to strengthen the systems that we already have in place with the departmental directorate of public security and to accentuate our action on the fight against urban rodeos, against exchange points, on safety in transport and neighborhoods”, he said Christophe Marot, general secretary of the Upper Rhine prefecture, on Tuesday.
A “dissuasive” presence.
In Colmar, where these CRSs will remain until the end of the week, this new presence has a deterrent effect, the mayor of the city, Eric Straumann, told BFMTV. “When I’m there, I see it objectively on the ground, there is even less scooter traffic”.
“It is a dissuasive presence that allows us to avoid certain overflows that we can see in the summer. Complete the national police system that intervenes in the district and fights these rodeos, ”she continued.
Deployed in Colmar but also in other locations in the Upper Rhine, such as Mulhouse, CRS 8 also has a “reassuring” effect, added Eric Straumann. The death of Abdoul, 27, who was trying to stop an urban rodeo on Sunday, “challenges the population; some fear backlash and this police presence reassures the population ”.
Implemented a year ago
According to our colleagues from France 3, on Tuesday, six operations were carried out by the elite unit, one of which was aimed at combating drug trafficking in Colmar. Three operations were also carried out in Mulhouse.
Based in Essonne and sharing its premises with the Raid, the CRS 8 company celebrated its first anniversary in July. It was established in July 2021, achieving the goal of an intervention in record time across France.
At the beginning of August, CRS 8 had already been deployed to try to overcome the clashes between young people and police in a delicate neighborhood of Limoges. Forty policemen had been rushed after a first night of violence.
After announcing an intensification of urban anti-rodeo controls across France, Gérald Darmanin announced on Tuesday that over 2,900 operations were carried out in just seven days. These led to 338 arrests and 157 vehicle hijackings, he added.