CONTROVERSY. Divisional Commissioner Yannick Janas, who was the Departmental Director of Public Security for the Pyrénées-Orientales (DDSP 66) and had been based in Perpignan for around two years, was relieved of his duties on Thursday.
This extremely rare measure, taken by the Ministry of the Interior and the Central Directorate of Public Security, follows an unfavourable report by the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) and comes against a backdrop of alleged harassment, which the head of the Catalan police is said to have been subjected to by two police unions, generally considered to be on the right, notably by a handful of officers from Alliance and Synergie.
According to our information, the director of the DDSP 66 was on the verge of a ‘burn-out’ – which goes to show just how good the atmosphere was – and, clearly, this was known to senior management and the prefect. In recent days, in fact, the wave of ‘burn-outs’ that is decimating the ranks of the emergency police and anti-crime squads (BAC) at police stations in the Hérault – Montpellier, Béziers, Sète and Agde – has ‘snowballed’ in Perpignan. Right up to the very top of the police station.
The FO trade union’s position
This Thursday evening, at the request of Metro In response to the sudden dismissal of the head of the Pyrénées-Orientales police force, Bruno Bartocetti, the regional representative of the majority trade union Unité SGP Police FO has commented: “We may sometimes disagree with a head of department or a director, and we may express our views strongly, but we have always worked with the director of DDSP 66 in the same way as with others: with loyalty, fairness and open dialogue.” In turn, we have adopted the same approach from him. To conclude, whenever a police officer is suffering from ‘burnout’ or is on sick leave, we can only express our regret at the officer’s personal situation, regardless of their rank.”
Watch this space.