Violence, racism and homophobia but also lack of means … In a book published this Thursday, September 3, entitled Flic (Goutte d’or editions), journalist Valentin Gendrot recounts his two eventful years in the police Parisian.
Specialist in infiltrations, the journalist wanted to explore an institution “Cleavage” using this controversial method, the subject of recurrent debate among journalists. “It moves the lines”, justifies the 32-year-old author.
A clandestine dive since 2017
Assembly line worker or Lidl employee: he has already recounted his six previous infiltrations in a book under pseudo (The chained) and a documentary on France 2.
His clandestine dive into the police began in September 2017. Under his real name, he joined the National Police School of Saint-Malo, comes out “security assistant” – this is the lowest hierarchical rank – then is assigned one year to the psychiatric infirmary of the police headquarters of Paris.
He then landed the job he was aiming for: the 19th century police statione arrondissement of Paris, popular district of the capital. He officiated there between March and August 2019 when the mobilization of Yellow vests feeds accusations of police violence.
The first day: “Completely stunned”
In an interview, Valentin Gendrot recounts his first day, “Completely stunned” : the commissioning of his weapon is chaotic and he sees “A policeman hit a person in custody” too noisy, while a woman is turned away when she comes to drop a handrail after ” death threats “ from her husband.
The most explosive passage of his book, Valentin Gendrot also claims to have attended a “Burr” committed by a colleague, whom he himself covered with other police officers. That day, his patrol was called by a neighbor complaining about young people listening to music at the foot of a building.
According to his account, control escalates when one of the police «Tapote» the cheek of a teenager who, in response, provokes the official: “I take you one on one. “
The policeman puts on a first “Slap” to the young man who replies verbally and he “Pin” so “A slap, then two, then three, maybe four or five”, says the journalist.
The policeman ” unleashed “ then ” punches “ and insults on the teenager, who was then taken to the police station for identity verification, says Valentin Gendrot, without detailing in his book the seriousness of the injuries.
“The police are a clan” and “The one who denounces, a traitor”, justifies Valentin Gendrot. By accusing himself of having covered his colleague, the journalist explains that he wanted to contribute to “Denounce a thousand other mistakes of this type”, even if “It was an extremely complicated decision to make. “
A monthly net salary of € 1,340 in Paris
His book also evokes many ferments of the long-term discontent of the police personnel: cars and premises out of age, suicide of a colleague and hostility of the population (a person in custody openly invites them to commit suicide), salary of € 1,340 net monthly in Paris.
He is also worried that “Anyone (can) become a cop” : his status as a journalist has never been discovered and his three-month training is, according to him, incomplete, “low cost” in the words of an instructor.
Anticipating any criticism, he stresses that his work is “Not anti-cop” but tackle the “Great police taboos”.
“It is also in their interest that we talk about police violence », “Always the act of a minority”, he said thus. According to him, ” the majority “ of these officials “Pays for the bad reputation and the climate of appalling tension that exists between the inhabitants and the police. “
Ready to strike back
The author concedes, however, his “Fear” reactions that his book could arouse in the police but said he was ready to counterattack. “Everything is true”, he certifies, ensuring that he has « documents » and of “Evidence. “
Contacted, the police headquarters was not able to respond immediately to the accusations made in this book.
Reaction of the Paris police headquarters
The Paris police headquarters announced Thursday that it had reported to the public prosecutor facts of violence in a police station in the capital, reported in the book Flic by an undercover journalist, and seized the “Font of fonts”.
The author denounces in his book “Serious acts”, reacted the prefecture of police, which affirms that “At this stage, the accused police officers are not identified and the alleged facts are not verified. “
“In order to establish the veracity of the facts related in this book and relayed by the media, and at the request of the Minister of the Interior, the Prefect of Police, Didier Lallement, brought them to the attention of the public prosecutor and at the same time applied for administrative purposes to the General Inspectorate of the National Police “, she adds in her press release.
“The Prefect of Police reaffirms his full support for the police officers who carry out their daily missions with professionalism in often difficult conditions”, concludes the prefecture.
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